The famous saffron infused rice dish is a traditional Spanish Paella recipe that comes fully loaded with seafood or anything your heart desires! You don’t need a paella pan to cook paella, any skillet or even a large pot will do, and it’s surprisingly straightforward to make.

THE INGREDIENTS:

Instructions:

• Chorizo – Heat 1 tbsp oil in a 30cm / 10″ paella pan or large skillet over high heat (Note 9). Add chorizo and cook until browned on each side (~ 3 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Squid – Add squid and cook for 45 seconds on each side, then remove and set aside.
• Garlic, onion, capsicum – Add remaining oil (if needed). Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes. Add capsicum, cook for 1 minute.
• Chicken – Add chicken. Cook for 2 minutes until lightly browned but still raw inside.
• Add Rice – Add rice and mix until the grains are coated in oil.
• Cooking broth – Add in most of the chorizo (reserve 1/4 for garnish), chicken stock, fresh or crushed tomato and saffron. Stir.
• Simmer 1 – Bring it to a simmer then adjust heat so it’s simmering fairly gently (not super rapidly, will burn rice). Simmer for 10 minutes – no stirring! At this stage, a bit of rice should be poking through to the surface but there should still be plenty of liquid.
• Add peas, prawns and mussels – Scatter over peas, squidge the prawns and mussels into the rice (partial submerge is fine).
• Simmer 2 – Cook for 8 minutes (turn prawns halfway if you think it’s necessary) or until prawns are opaque, mussels are open, and most of the liquid has been absorbed but still a bit liquidy. Discard any mussels that do not open. Remove from stove.
• Check rice – Do a taste test to see if the rice is cooked – it should be firm but cooked. If it is too firm for your taste, no stress, just add a splash of hot water (not too much!) and keep cooking.
• Rest – Scatter over squid and reserved chorizo (residual heat will warm through), cover with lid then rest for 5 minutes (rice will absorb remaining liquid). Paella rice should now be tender but “juicy”, not stodgy and thick (if it is, add splash of water to loosen it).
• Garnish – scatter with parsley and wedges of lemon. Take to table as is, then mix up rice with seafood before serving!