HEAD BLOG

A scoop of spanish joy

If you enjoyed my red pepper and prawn risotto then you will love this paella. Unless you are vegetarian in which case you must either 1) shut your eyes or 2) adapt. This is a rough guide to making paella. I’ve found that using anything to hand varies the flavour and the experience. And speaking of experience my only other bit of advice here is to share it. I have made this for two people only and as nice as it is, it feels like it ought to be served up to far more. Make it in a big pan, invite friends, neighbours and homeless people over and just let people scoop it out into bowls by the steaming handful. Leave thick scraps of crusty bread lying around for them to dip in to the deep sauce and keep pouring the wine – alcoholic or non-alcoholic – the experience will be intoxicating enough.

After that build up I’d better get on and deliver. In fact I had probably best come to your house and start cooking, right? Let’s start with the ingredients.

Stock (chicken or veg stock – about a pint depending on how big a portion you are making)

Chicken thighs (or any chicken on the bone – it helps deepen the sauce)

Pancetta

Chorizo

Uncooked prawns

Paella rice

Saffron

Paprika

Chilli

Onion

Parsley

Seafood – I haven’t added much seafood other than prawns because I’ve only done this for two but the experience will be heightened if you chuck in squid, octopus, mussels – you name it. It’s all about allowing people to pick and discover the hidden joys of the paella. Ideally you should be hearing your guests shout things like “mmm, squid” or “ooo, I just found a model deep sea diver and a treasure chest”.

The method: you could take your time and brown your chicken and reserve but I ended up just throwing things in. I started with stock. Get it mixed and add a pinch of saffron. DO NOT SKIP THE SAFFRON. People are watching. Then go for the onion. Dice it roughly and let it soften down. Colour wouldn’t hurt it but it’s not necessary. Thrown in the chicken at the same time and let it get a bit sunburnt on the glorious beach of your pan. Then throw in the pancetta and chorizo. Your oil should begin turning red as the chorizo releases its unction. Bless this cooking lark.  Add some paprika and chilli and give it all a good meaty mix.

As the pancetta begins to crisp you know you are ready to throw in some paella rice. Scatter it liberally and give it a good mix around to absorp the oils. The chicken thighs will be nicely browned by now. And this is where you will be surprised if you are used to making risotto. Normally you are a slave to the spoon. Stirring away and slowly adding stock. Not with paella. Well, not with this one anyway. Add the stock now. That’s right. All of it. Just splash it in and cry a little at the hiss of beautiful steam hits your nostrils. Stir and just keep an eye on things.

You’ll be wanting to fry off the prawns separately. Salt and pepper them. If they are in the shells then you can either remove these or add them in and just let people pick them apart themselves. When they have just turned pink throw them into the paella. You should do this a few minutes before you are ready to serve.

The rest of the seafood can also be added at various intervals. Squid might be best added early on and I have no idea about octopus. Just look up some recipies and adapt the cooking time. As for the mussels, well they need very little cooking time so I’d probably murder the buggers before the prawns. they will add to the richness and mix in beautifully.

Then serve. Sprinkle parsley all over in order to retain the freshness of the parsley taste and get the bread on the table.