Today I'm sharing a rich nevertheless healthy Spanish-inspired one-pot casserole: A Paella.
Originally from the province of Valencia in Spain, there is not one version of the Paella, but many local or family versions. Here is my NZ quick - well relatively quick - and easy recipe!
Paella is a mix of white rice, green vegetables, meat (including rabbit, chicken and other) and/or seafood, beans, saffron-based seasoning and olive oil. This dish is originally cooked in a pan (not a pot as above) but you need a very large pan, so my version uses a pot (iron-cast). This cooking ustensil inspired the name of the Paella after the old French word for pan: paelle.
You'd be surprised how well this dish matches NZ food. It is actually a great dish to showcase the delicious - although a bit too big for my taste - green mussels from Coromandel and NZ shellfish like cockles freshly picked from Cockle Bay, Whangaparaoa - a great kid activity by the way! we love it!
Don't worry about the quantity of ingredients, it is still very easy to make. You can also adapt the recipe to your fridge and pantry, but my favourite version this mixed seafood and chichen Paella. Although today I had no prawns which also go very well in this dish.
Ingredients (6 servings)
- 750g cockles
- 24 green mussels
- 6 chicken drumsticks
- 1 whole squid, sliced*
- 1 whole hot chorizo, sliced*
- 2 tomatoes, peeled* and diced
- 250g green beans*
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 large red (or green) capsicum
- 1 onion, chopped
- 10g butter
- 1 sprig of parsley
- 1 shallot
- 1/2 cup white wine (Pinot gris)
- 1 cup of water
- 1 1/2 cup of parboiled rice
- 1 1/2 cup chicken stock*
- 1 1/2 cup seafood stock (included in this recipe)
- 1 dose of saffron*
- salt, pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 large red (or green) capsicum
- 1 onion, chopped
- 10g butter
- 1 sprig of parsley
- 1 shallot
- 1/2 cup white wine (Pinot gris)
- 1 cup of water
- 1 1/2 cup of parboiled rice
- 1 1/2 cup chicken stock*
- 1 1/2 cup seafood stock (included in this recipe)
- 1 dose of saffron*
- salt, pepper
Cooking instructions
(~ 1.5 hour)
The preparation
First prepare all your ingredients: slice the chorizo, the squid and the capsicum; chop the onion and the shallot; peel and dice the tomatoes; cut the green beans' tails.
Mussels, cockles and stock
1. Saute the shallots in the butter.
2. Add the wine, the water, the parsley, salt and pepper.
3. Add the cockle and stir. Take the cockle out of the pot when they are all open and reserve for later. Keep the stock in - takes only few minutes! Keep the shell for 1/4 and take off the shell for the remaining quarter.
4. Then add the mussels to the stock and stir. Take out of the pot and reserve for later.
5. Filter the stock using a strainer and reserve for later.
Paella
1. Sear the chorizo (sliced) in the olive oil until coloured. Take out and reserve.
2. Sear the squid in the same oil until slightly coloured - only 2-3 minutes.
3. Sear the chicken drumsticks until coloured, then take out and put under the grill (oven pre-heated at 180C) for 20 mins.
4. Brown the onion in the same oil.
5. Then add the capsicum, the beans and the peas. Stir fry for 3-4 mins.
6. Add back the chorizo and finally add the rice and the saffron (or other spices). Stir until the rice is slightly coloured - about 3 minutes.
7. Cover with the chicken stock and the seafood stock. Stir and let cook for about 30 mins, cover with the lid. Stir occasionally. Check the cooking of the rice and seasoning.
8. While the rice should be still a bit crunchy, add the squids and 3/4 of the cockles without their shell. Stir.
9. Then add the one quarter of cockle left (with their shell) and the mussels for re-heating purposes. About 5 minutes and serve!
Bon appétit!
Good to know...
* If you use frozen squids, defrost them in a little bit of milk, otherwise they may get hard when cooked.
* Here I am talking about a dry chorizo, which is a traditional Spanish delicatessen, not the uncooked sausage for barbecues. These are not easy to find and can be quite expensive. I found some affordable Spanish chorizo at NW, Birkenhead.
* Either fresh or canned tomatoes, as long as they are peeled.
* Either fresh or frozen green beans.
* Chicken stock is much more flavoursome and healthy obviously if you can make it yourself. It's quite easy. That's my basic version: Put about the equivalent for 6-7 chicken drumstick in a pot, sear, then add a onion cut in 2 and picked with glove, 2 carrots cubed, 1/2 a leek (the greenest part so you can save the white part for more refined dishes) and cover with 1.5 liters of water, salt with 2 pinches of coarse salt. Cook for an hour. Then strain the stock and make a puree for baby with the veggies and part of the meat. The rest of the meat can be used in many ways like sandwiches, soups, stir fry noodle, etc...
* Originally, the paella uses saffron, but this precious spice is so rare and expensive that when I couldn't find any, I instead used 2 tsp of turmeric and 1/2 tsp of hot dried chilli flakes; otherwise saffron only.
* Either fresh or frozen green beans.
* Chicken stock is much more flavoursome and healthy obviously if you can make it yourself. It's quite easy. That's my basic version: Put about the equivalent for 6-7 chicken drumstick in a pot, sear, then add a onion cut in 2 and picked with glove, 2 carrots cubed, 1/2 a leek (the greenest part so you can save the white part for more refined dishes) and cover with 1.5 liters of water, salt with 2 pinches of coarse salt. Cook for an hour. Then strain the stock and make a puree for baby with the veggies and part of the meat. The rest of the meat can be used in many ways like sandwiches, soups, stir fry noodle, etc...
* Originally, the paella uses saffron, but this precious spice is so rare and expensive that when I couldn't find any, I instead used 2 tsp of turmeric and 1/2 tsp of hot dried chilli flakes; otherwise saffron only.
Très joli!!!!
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