Reign of Spain
Paella is a Spanish peasant dish that originated in Valencia, and it’s a fantastic dish to spoil your guests.
This dish is bound to please everyone. And massive bonus … you serve straight from the pan and let everyone help themselves. This recipe serves six.
Prawn and chorizo paella
Ingredients: 50g chorizo, sliced 2 onions, diced 1 large red pepper, diced 2 cloves garlic, chopped 350g paella rice 1Tbsp smoked paprika 1l vegetable stock 250g frozen peas, defrosted 500 – 600g prawns, fresh or defrosted 1 lemon, cut into wedges small bunch parsley, chopped.
- Fry the chorizo, onion, pepper and garlic until the onion is soft and the oil has been released from the chorizo, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the rice and paprika and cook for a couple of minutes, coating all of the rice in the oil.
- Add 950ml of the the stock and simmer gently with the lid off for 15 minutes; if it’s becoming too dry, add a splash more stock. Do not stir.
- Add the prawns and peas and cook until the prawns are cooked and pink, about 5 minutes. Season to taste, top with the parsley and serve in the pan with lemon wedges on the side.
Quick Tips
* Add mussels if you like; remember to discard the ones that don’t open during cooking.
* Woolworths stocks smoked Spanish paprika and readymade Spanish-style rice, which works a treat for a cheat’s version.
* Don’t stir paella (it’s a totally different cooking process to risotto) and cook it uncovered.
* Take your paella to the table in the pan and so everyone can help themselves and tuck in.
* Serve paella with a fresh white wine or a crisp rosé. It also goes superbly with dry sherry or traditional sangria in the summer.
* You can purchase paella pans at most hardware and home stores, but you can use a skottel or large frying pan too. Prices start at about R350 for an aluminium one at mrphome.com, but cost about R800-R1000 on average.
Recipe adapted from Chris Baber; @chrisbaber; chrisbaber.co.uk
Picture: Annie Spratt unsplash.com
