The Ultimate Paella

Right..listen up guys..this is getting serious now. We've been working from home for over a month now and in lockdown due to the Covid 19 sitch, and we are slowly starting to pull our hair out. Gone are the days where we can book ourselves a table at a fancy restaurant or go to a gastro pub for a summer lunch and a few bevvies! I bloody miss it and this Paella hits the spot. Plus you can add whatever protein or veggies that you want, customise it to your taste or the leftovers you have in your fridge. But i will say, this version is banging!

Ingredients

4 Whole peppers sliced thinly (Any colour will do)

1/2 red onion diced

1 clove garlic crushed

150g fresh plum tomatoes

200g Paella Rice

1 Tablespoon smoked paprika

900ml Chicken Stock (Stock cubes will do if you haven't got fresh)

A pinch of saffron (put in with the measured stock)

225g Chorizo (half diced and half chunky)

125ml White Wine (Choose one you like then you can help yourself to a nice glass whilst cooking)

1 large Chicken Breast Diced

150g Raw Scallops

300G Shell on prawns (de shell but leave a few for decoration)

150g ready to eat seafood

1 small bunch parsley chopped

1 lemon

So before we start the best thing to do is get all your prep done so you can cook it like a boss and do it how you see the chefs on the telly with a glass in hand :D

Once you've chopped and prepared everything then we can ready steady cook.

Heat a paella pan (or you can use a wok) with a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the peppers and onions for five minutes on a medium heat. Add the garlic and smoked paprika and cook for a minute. Add the diced chorizo and cook down for five minutes on low until softened. When it looks like its getting nice and caramelised then add the sliced plum tomatoes, a pinch of sea salt and cook on a low heat for ten minutes. Once its looking cooked down and yummy then add the rice and stir to coat well. Add the wine and reduce by half, (I used a gorgeous Spanish wine from Asda and enjoyed a glass whilst cooking) Heat the stock with the saffron and add it bit by bit to the rice stirring it slowly as you go. Whilst the rice is cooking, pan fry the chicken and then add it to the rice once cooked as well as the chunky chorizo after the rice has been cooking for ten minutes. At this stage squeeze juice of half a lemon and a big handful of chopped parsley into the rice. Continue to cook the rice until its al dente. Add the raw prawns to the the rice and in a separate pan sear the scallops and shell on prawns to get a nice caramelisation. Add the ready to eat seafood in the paella to heat through (raw is better but this was the only other seafood i could find in the shops) Finish with another squeeze of lemon, cracked black pepper and the rest of the chopped parsley and top the paella with the shell on prawns and scallops. And your ready to enjoy whilst dreaming of being on a hot Spanish beach x