“DINNER AGAINST the CLOCK”: a quick Paella with chicken, shrimp and chorizo By Foodie’s Markets Chef Laura Brennan

    

March 2, 2018

 

This the first in a new series of recipes designed to help you get dinner on the table in an hour or so…. depending on your experience in the kitchen.

 

‘Paella’ is a traditional Spanish rice dish which usually includes the evocative and expensive spice:   saffron.  (Not to worry, you can still make a delicious paella without it.)  Paella is made with a short-grain rice and is a one-pot wonder.  Gather all your ingredients and do all the advance prep work first.  This is your ‘mise-en-place’.  Once your ‘mise’ is-in-place, the assembly/cooking of the paella goes quickly.

 

And note:  For expediency, I have chosen to use some pre-cooked ingredients:  pre-cooked chicken breast and cooked chorizo.  And some other shortcuts:  peeled and deveined shrimp, canned diced tomatoes and prepared chicken stock.    

 

There is an expanding world of excellent quality, prepared ingredients available.  When you find products that are carefully made and tasty, it’s a smart time-saving move to incorporate them into your cooking.  Without a prep cook or two at home, most of us (including myself) find it daunting to have to prepare everything from scratch, every time.

 

  • Prep: 40 mins
  • Cook: 30 mins
  • Yields: 6 to 8

Ingredients

½ cup olive or vegetable oil (plus more if needed)

½ cup onion, diced ¼ inch

2 bell peppers (red, yellow and/or orange), seeded and diced ¼ inch

4 ounces, cooked chorizo sausage, diced ¼ inch

2 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced or finely minced

3 teaspoons paprika, preferably smoked Spanish paprika, a mix of sweet and hot

2 cups short-grain rice: Arborio (Italian risotto rice) or Valenciano (Spanish paella rice)

¾ cup diced canned tomatoes, with liquid

½ cup dry white wine or dry sherry

32 ounces excellent quality chicken stock

2 cups water

Approximately 1 tablespoon (.5 ounce) saffron threads (optional, but authentic)

12 ounces cooked chicken breast (grilled or prepared with minimal seasoning is best) and diced into 1-inch pieces

12 ounces peeled and deveined shrimp (I used size: 31/40 or between 31 and 40 pieces per pound)

¾ cup green peas, defrosted

Kosher salt

Fresh black pepper

Optional: squeeze of fresh ½ lemon and chopped parsley garnish

Directions

Combine the chicken stock and water together in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Add the saffron (if using). Stir. Remove from heat and let sit to infuse. The saffron will tint the broth yellow and release a soft scent.

In a Dutch oven or large sauté pan (at least 12 inches diameter) heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil, over medium-low heat. Add the diced onion, the diced peppers and the diced chorizo. Stir to combine. Sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt and cook until softened, about 6-8 minutes.

Add the minced garlic and the paprika and cook another 2 minutes. Don’t brown /burn the garlic! Mind the heat!

Add another 1-2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and then add the 2 cups of rice. Stir and cook the rice for about 3 minutes or until shiny and coated with the cooking fats and juices. Add the wine or sherry and the diced tomatoes. Cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the juices have reduced by about half. This will concentrate the flavors of the wine and the tomatoes. Stir often, at this point the rice may stick to the bottom of the pan.

Next: add the liquid. Ladle enough warm chicken-saffron broth over the rice to cover by ¼ inch. Stir to combine all the ingredients. Bring gently to a simmer, cover the pot and let cook for 15 minutes without stirring. But do check on the temperature of the simmer—it should not be boiling—just a gentle, slow cooking. At the end of 15 minutes, taste the rice for doneness and flavor. Add more liquid, it will most likely need it and add a pinch of kosher salt at this point. Re-cover the pan.

When rice is tender, add the shrimp and gently mix it into the rice. Cover pot and cook for 3 minutes, shrimp will be cooked by being buried in the rice. (If you feel your shrimp is larger that the chicken pieces, cut the shrimp before you add it to the paella.) Add the cooked, diced chicken breast and let cook for another 2 minutes, just to heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add more chicken broth to loosen the rice, if you’d like. Add the peas, a squirt of lemon juice and some fresh ground black pepper and chopped parsley.

Serve immediately. And with extra warm broth on the side if you have it.

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