Chicken, Chorizo, Seafood Paella

Copyright 2008 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients:
4 oz. chicken thighs (2-3 pieces, whole or cut into cubes)
3 oz. Spanish chorizo (one link, diced into small cubes)
1 cup Bomba Spanish paella rice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bellpepper, small dice
¼ cup frozen green peas
5-6 mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
3 jumbo shrimps
1 ½ cups chicken broth (or 1 can of Swanson chicken broth)
1 tomato, skin removed and deseeded, diced
1 t saffron
1 T smoked sweet paprika (pimenton)
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper

In 11-inch paella pan (or large skillet), brown chicken and sausage with 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat (about 3 minutes for each side of the chicken, leaving the chicken partly rare). Remove meat from pan and set aside. Drain excess oil.

Add another tablespoon of olive oil and saute tomatoes and green bellpepper. This is your sofrito, which is a vegetable paste that’s your base for your paella. (Sofrito can include carrots but never onion.) Cooked until mushy, about 10-15 minutes. Add broth and season with salt and pepper, saffron and paprika. Then add rice evenly around the paella pan. When all the ingredients have been blended, do not stir the rice any more. Add the chicken and chorizo back to the pan by nestling them into the rice. Cook at a medium heat or rolling simmer for about 15 minutes. Cook covered with some newspaper or piece of alumninum foil.

After the rice has been cooking for 5 minutes, remove foil and add the shrimp. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes, then add mussels and peas. Cook uncovered until done. (The rice should look plump and the broth should be dried out around the edge of the pan. To help get the crispy bottom known as the saccorat, turn up the heat for the last two minutes of cooking but be sure not to blacken your rice.)

Makes two to three servings. Garnish with lemon wedges and chopped parsley.

Serve with a glass of pinot noir or shiraz.

TIPS: Bomba is the premium paella rice from Valencia. You can find various brands at gourmet stores in the United States. If you can’t find bomba Spanish rice, some recipes suggest using the arborio (short grain) rice used for making risotto. However, I’ve never tried it so can’t fully recommend it as a decent substitute. I figure, if you’re going to make paella, use everything Spanish.