Chicken Paella

-Serves 3-4
This chicken paella recipe is probably the easiest communal dish you could make when you have friends and family over. The recipe below serves 3-4 but can easily be doubled or tripled using a larger paella pan to feed a crowd.

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Photo by Manuel Mouzo

Ingredients for Chicken Paella

400g chicken thighs, cut into 3cm chunks or 3 full chicken thighs and legs on bone cut along the joint
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of ¼ lemon
5 tablespoons Papa's Grove olive oil
150g French shallots, thinly sliced
150g green beans, chopped into 1cm pieces
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
115g roast red peppers, diced into small cubes
200g chopped Roma Tomatoes (bottled)
1 pinch good quality saffron, soaked
1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
250g Spanish Bomba or Calasparra rice (or Arborio)
freshly ground black pepper
750ml good-quality chicken stock
1 sprig rosemary
lemon wedges, to serve
chopped parsley, to serve

Recipe
  1. Place chopped chicken in a bowl. Marinate chicken with 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon sea salt, 2 cloves minced garlic, juice of ¼ lemon, and 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.
  2. Heat a paella pan over medium heat- season with a drizzle of olive oil all over. Place chicken and sear on both sides for a few minutes until golden. Drizzle 3 more tablespoons olive oil – add shallots and fry until lightly golden.
  3. Next, add green beans and fry until beans take on some colour. Add garlic – fry until fragrant.
  4. Add roast peppers, chopped tomatoes, 1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika and saffron – stir well and cook for a few minutes.
  5. Add rice – stir for about 2-3 minutes making sure all the grains are coated in sauce.
  6. Season with black pepper and pour in 750ml chicken stock. Add rosemary -stir well. Taste stock and add salt accordingly to season it.
  7. Bring to the boil, and cook over low heat, shaking the pan occasionally (using its handles), for 10-15 minutes until there is very little water left in the pan. At this point, if the rice still looks a bit white and undercooked, add a little more broth or water. Continue to cook until there is very little water left in the pan.
  8. Reduce heat to very low and cook on low heat for another 10-15 minutes untouched (or longer until the rice is fully cooked). Discard rosemary. Let paella stand for a few minutes before serving.
  9. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve hot with lemon wedges on the side. The best and the most treasured part of a paella is the "Socarrat" - the crunchy, caramelized crust of rice stuck to the bottom of the pan. Do remember to scrape it off the bottom of the pan when serving.
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