Wealden Times | WT200 | October 2018 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

Photo: David Merewether
Serves 4 Prep time: 10 minutes. Cooking time: 30 minutes
This is a showstopper dish but is very easy. The trick is to use
the best quality shellfish, preferably from your local fishmonger,
and part-cook the rice with saffron and turmeric so the paella
takes on the amazing colour. Both of these tips were given to
me by Sankey’s in Tunbridge Wells. If you wish to simplify the
dish you can omit the squid and/or the mussels. The prawns,
chorizo and chicken are a must!
• 1 tsp (1g) saffron
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 300g bomba paella rice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 150g chorizo sliced on the
diagonal into ½cm thick
slices
• 2 chicken thighs (skin off,
bone out) sliced into 2cm
strips
• 2 onions finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika
Cheat’s paella
• 800ml- 1l fish stock
• 200ml white wine
• 10-12 cleaned mussels
• 2 squid tubes cut into
rings, fresh or frozen
• ½ pint glass of Greenland
prawns, shell on
• ½ pint glass of Greenland
prawns shell off or king
prawns, shell off
• 100g frozen peas
• 2 lemons, quartered
1Remove any remaining
beards from the mussels
and wash them under cold
water. Tap each mussel. If it
doesn’t close, dispose of it.
2Put your rice, saffron,
turmeric and 500ml of
stock in a pan and simmer for
8 minutes. Fork through the
rice and set aside.
3Add the olive oil to a
large pan (I used a large
casserole) and add your
chicken. Colour for 5 minutes
before adding the onion and
garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes.
Push the onion and chicken
mixture to the side of the pan
and char the lemon quarters
for 5 minutes turning them
every minute or so. This
caramelises them and makes
them really sweet. Remove the
lemon wedges and set aside.
4Give the onions and
chicken a stir to make sure
they don’t catch then push
them to the side of the pan
again. Colour the chorizo for a
minute on each side. Add the
smoked paprika and the wine
and give everything a stir.
5Add your part-cooked rice
and the remaining stock.
Stir and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add your mussels on top of the
rice, put a lid on the pan and
let the mussels steam cook for
5 minutes. Discard any mussels
that haven’t opened.
6Add the squid, prawns and
peas. Give the paella one
last stir then put the lid on the
pan for 2 more minutes. Serve
with the lemon wedges and
fresh herbs if you like.
149 wealdentimes.co.uk