Quick Seafood Paella Recipe

Ingredients hide check list

• 2 free-range chicken thighs, on the bone

• 80 g 2.81 oz chorizo (spicy if possible, cut into large chunks)

• 200 g 7 oz Spanish paella rice

• 0.5 litres 17.59 fl oz hot chicken stock with a pinch saffron

• 1 small onion, sliced

• 1 bay leaf

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 tsp paprika (preferably Spanish smoked paprika)

• Quarter tsp cayenne pepper

• Half jar sugocasa

• 8 large prawns in their shells

• 8 mussels, cleaned (wash under cold water; pull out the beard and discard any that do not close)

• 150g 5.29oz squid, cleaned and sliced

• Handful of flat-leaf parsley

• Handful of frozen petit-pois or peas

• Lemon wedges

If you can't get fresh fish you can use frozen seafood quite successfully, just use what is available. Spanish paella rice is a short-grain rice, which is a relatively high G.I. carbohydrate. This means that it is digested quickly into your system and therefore very good to eat if you have just had an intensive workout as it will help your muscles recover as quickly as possible.

Method

1. Season the chicken and then brown it in some oil in a large pan. Remove the chicken pieces and then add the onion, bay leaf and red pepper. Sauté gently until the onion is golden.

2. Add the garlic, paprika, cayenne pepper and sugocasa (a tin of tomatoes will do instead) and cook for a couple of minutes to release the aromas.

3. Add the rice and stir around so that the rice is nice and glossy. Add the hot stock (include glass of dry white wine if you like), the chicken and the chorizo, stir and cook gently, uncovered, without stirring, for 10 minutes. Shake the pan every now and then to stop the rice sticking.

4. Taste for seasoning — depending on the saltiness of your stock, you may need to add some salt. Stir in the peas, the mussels and cook for about another 10 minutes, without stirring, until the rice is cooked and the mussels have opened. You may need to add a little extra stock.

5. Heat 1 tbs of oil in a separate pan and quickly fry the prawns and squid. Add this to the paella, scraping out any juices. Add the parsley, leave the paella to rest for a couple of minutes and place the pan on the centre of the table to serve with some lemon wedges to squeeze over.

6. This tastes good with a green salad.