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Paella
A paella is such a wonderful one-pot recipe - bursting with flavour and a total crowdpleaser. The key to a great paella is in the rice – Spaniards use short grain rice such as Bomba grown near the village of Calasparra.
Bomba rice absorbs a lot of water without turning mushy but the trick is to only stir once after adding all the ingredients. If the paella is getting too dry and the rice is not ready yet, add a little more boil water or stock over the surface.
Ingredients
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 500g skinless chicken thighs, cubed
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 150g cooking chorizo, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 200g vine tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 100g green beans, diced
• 250g short grain Paella rice such as Bomba
• 650ml hot chicken stock, more if needed
• Pinch saffron strands
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 large raw prawns, shells on
• 20 fresh clams or 8 large mussels
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper to season
Step 1
Stir the saffron strands into the hot stock and set aside.
Heat the oil in a wide large pan and brown the chicken, stirring, for 7 minutes. Set aside.
Step 2
In the same pan, add the chorizo slices and fry for 5 minutes until the chorizo starts to release some of its spicy oil. Set aside
Step 3
In the same pan add the onion and pepper and cook for five minutes to soften
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Stir in the tomatoes, green beans, rice, garlic, chicken, chorizo and stock.
Cook over low heat for 20 minutes without stirring. If the pan looks like it is getting dry (tip to the side to check how much liquid is left) add a bit more stock or boiling water over the top
Step 4
Cook over low heat for 20 minutes without stirring. If the pan looks like it is getting dry (tip to the side to check how much liquid is left) add a bit more stock or boiling water over the top
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Add the prawns and clams (or mussels) pushing them into the rice. Cook for a further 10 minutes or until the rice and seafood is cooked. Discard any clams or mussels that have not opened.
Turn off the heat and cover with a damp tea towel for 5 minutes
Step 5
Uncover, season to taste and sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Present your paella to the table so that everyone can help themselves
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