Paella Sundays

Hi everybody!!

Ain't no better way to start in this blogger world than with a typical Spanish recipe: a chicken and seafood Paella. It's a typical dish from Valencia, an Eastern city located in the mediterranean coast of Spain so make sure you ask for it if you are ever in Valencia.

My parents had been demanding it for weeks so I couldn't put it off any longer and this past Sunday I finally made their wishes come true. What do you think about the outcome?

Chicken and see food paella.

Difficult as it may seem, it's actually pretty easy to cook so don't be scared and give it a go!

I can assure you you'll get the hang of it very quickly and then you'll be a Paella master. haha.

Recipe

Ingredients (3-4 people):

• 3-4 chicken wings (a different part of the chicken will do as well)
• 2-3 cuttlefishes
• 100 g. of prawns
• 200-300 g. of rice (less than 100 g. per person)
• 60 g. of green peas
• 70 g. of green beans
• 1 red pepper
• 1 onion
• 1 ripe tomato
• Chicken or seafood soup
• 1 garlic clove
• Olive oil
• Sugar
• Salt
• Yellow food coloring or saffron

To start off, we need to wash and cut the chicken wings and the cuttlefish.

In a frying pan (I used a "paellera" which is this special flat pan you can see in the pic), pour a bit of oil and cook the chicken, cuttlefish and prawns separately for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper. Once they are a bit brown, take them out and save them for later.

It's veggies time! Wash them all and cut them in small pieces, except for the tomato, which we need to grate until we obtain its juice. Add a bit of sugar and salt to the latter.

Add a bit more olive oil to the same pan we used before and wait until is hot. Then add the diced onion, pepper and garlic and cook them until the onion turns more or less transparent. After this, add the green beans until they toast a bit and finally pour the grated tomato.

Once the veggies are ready, incorporate the rice and mix it all together while it cooks for a few minutes. I like to do this in order to give a better toasted taste to the rice.

Before pouring in the soup, put the chicken and the cuttlefish back in the pan. The amount soup will depend on the type of rice we are using as well as on the desired doneness of the rice. On average, you'll need twice the amount of rice you've used or ever three times.

The first 10 minutes, keep the heat high and then low it for the next 20 min or so. Remember to stir everything frequently to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

As the peas that I used were already boiled, it was enough to add them right before lowing the heat. However, if you prefer fresh peas, I'd recommend incorporating them at the same time as the green beans.

Check the rice every once in a while until it's as soft as you like it. Then, turn off the cooker and it's done and ready to eat!!

A personal tip of mine is covering it with a dishcloth for at least 10 minutes before serving it and you'll get an even tastier paella. 

I hope you liked it and...enjoy your meal!!