Spanish Paella with Chicken and Seafood

Or just Chicken if you don't like seafood!

I love paella and I truly believe you can make this dish a Core one by going easy on oil, not using chorizo :( and watching the portion sizes. It's great for a dinner party where you place it in the center of the table for guests to help themselves. Of course you can always start the dinner with Tapas including:

*Garlic Prawns
*Spiced Potato Cubes
*Oven Roasted Wild Mushrooms
*Mussles steamed with Garlic
*Peppers and Tomatoes
*Spanish Omelette's
*Cherry Tomatoes stuffed with Olive Tapenade

and all of these can be made Core.

But onto the Paella recipe - which I'll be making this weekend for friends and hopefully post photos later..

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons of olive oil
* 2 rashers of WW bacon
* 500 grams of boneless chicken breast or thighs
* 1 olive oil spray
* 1 and 1/2 cup aborio or medium grain rice
* 1 can diced or crushed tomatoes
* 1 red onion diced
* 1 capsicum (red pepper) diced
* 2 to 4 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
* 2 cups of paella or short grain rice
* 3 cups of chicken stock
* ½ teaspoon of saffron threads
* ½ teaspoon of turmeric
* 1 teaspoon of chili powder or flakes
* 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
* salt and pepper to taste
* ½ cup of fresh or frozen green peas
* 1 tsp each dried cumin, oregano, thyme & basil
* 4 tbl spoon fresh chopped parsley

For optional Seafood include:
* deveined green prawns * squid * fresh mussels

Method

Make the Sofrito - a Spanish sauce which is the flavour base of many dishes. To make heat the pan and spray very lightly with the Olive Oil spray - add the diced red onion, 1/2 of the diced capsicum (pepper), 2 tablespoons of parsley and 2 of the chopped garlic cloves and sauté for 8 minutes - stirring occasionally. Add the can of tomatoes and 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika and cook until the liquid has evaporated and the sofrito has the consistency of jam. Spoon into a bowl and set aside.

Slice the Bacon and quickly brown in the pan the sofrito was cooked in. If it sticks just add a tiny amount of water. When cooked set aside. Season the Chicken pieces with salt and pepper and then add to the pan - cook approx 7 minutes and set aside.

To assemble the Paella first spray a little more oil in the pan and add the rice - stir to coat with the oil and toast slightly. Add the saffron, tumeric and chilli powder and stir through. Add the sofrito and mix well. Add the 3 cups of stock and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine - bringing to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes uncovered without stirring. You can move the pan around the heat though to make sure it cooks evenly. Lower the heat and add the bacon and chicken - stir a little and let simmer some more.

If you are adding the seafood then this step is for you... While the paella is simmering slice the squid into rings and put in a mixing bowl with the prawns, chopped garlic, parsley and chilli combine (add white wine if you wish here - but add the points!). Heat a wok and then quickly cook the seafood for 1 minute. Transfer to the simmering paella.

Just before the paella is ready (when most of the liquid has been absorbed) add the frozen peas - and push in the mussels if you are adding seafood. Cover with a large Bamboo Steamer cover or aluminum foil, simmer for 2 minutes while the mussels are steamed. Discard any mussels that do not open.

Garnish with lemon wedges and cilantro - place in the centre of the table on a heat absorbing plate and enjoy!