Serves: 6
Prep: 25 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Paella is a firm favourite in our household – the kids love it and it’s a real showstopper that’s relatively easy to cook. It’s a bit of a labour of love – I’ve often cooked it on the campfire and the rice does need to be kept moving until the end.
However, the nice people at Cadac recently gave us one of their Citi Chef table-top gas BBQs to put through its paces – on a recent caravan holiday I decided to give it a whirl…
Ingredients
large pinch saffron strands
1 vegetable or chicken stock cube, made up to 600ml
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
125g chorizo, roughly chopped
500g boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (or a mix), chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 tsp paprika
250g Spanish paella rice
4 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
75g frozen peas
250g cooked prawns with shells on (thawed if frozen) and rinsed
small handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to serve
chopped lemon wedges, to serve
Method
Stir the saffron strands into the stock and set aside to infuse while you prepare the rest of the paella. Meanwhile, get the Citi Chef hot and break out a large pan – in this case we used the Cadac Paella pan. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a the pan and add the chorizo and fry for about 3 mins until crisp and the oil has been released.
Remove the chorizo and drain on kitchen paper, leaving the oil in the pan. Add the chicken into the pan and fry over a high heat for 7-8 mins, or until the meat is golden and cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a bowl and set aside.
Using the oil in the pan, tip in the chopped onion and garlic and stir-fry for 4-5 mins, until softened and just starting to colour. Stir in the pepper and paprika with the a tablespoon of oil and stir-fry for a further couple of minutes. With the heat still quite high, quickly stir in the rice so it is well-coated in the oil, then pour in the saffron-infused stock plus 450ml boiling water, scraping up any sticky brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Return the browned chicken pieces to the pan, then add the chopped tomatoes. Cover the pan and cook on a medium heat for 10 mins, stirring once or twice.
Scatter the peas, prawns and fried chorizo over the top, cover again and leave to cook a further 5-10 mins, or until the rice is just cooked and most of the liquid in the pan has been absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat, put the lid on and leave to rest for 5 mins. Stir a few times to mix the ingredients, season to taste and scatter over the chopped parsley. Serve with lemon wedges and an extra drizzle of oil, if you like.
Enjoy with a cold Cerveza or some ice-cold white wine!
