If paella is an only dish on your table, 1 cup of rice for two people would be more than enough. For this amount of rice take a pan with a diameter no less than 12 inches (10” bottom).
Approximate amount of ingredients:
- 1 chorizo sausage, sliced into ¼ inch pieces or halved lengthwise and then sliced
- 4 chicken thighs, preferably bone in and skin on, cut in halves
- 1-2 shallots or half medium onion, chopped (about 1/3 - ½ cup)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
- Sweet bell peppers (a variety of different colors), sliced, about ½ cup
- Hot peppers such as jalapenos or Serrano, to your taste
- Salt to taste
- About 1.5 - 1.7 cup chicken stock
- A pinch of saffron threads
- Oil for sautéing and browning – 3-4 Tbsp
Also, for chicken marinade:
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- a generous pinch of salt and black pepper
- ½ tsp sweet paprika
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
- 1.5 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1-2 tsp lemon juice
Marinade chicken for about 1-1.5 hours before making paella. Prepare all other ingredients and have them ready to go. Preheat the oven to 400-410F. Put saffron threads in the stock and bring to a simmer. Season well with salt.
3 minutes before cooking, take the chicken out of the marinade and pat dry with paper towels.
Heat oil in a paella pan and brown the chicken on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same oil, sauté shallots and sausage for a couple of minutes or until the shallots become translucent and start to get lightly golden along with the sausage. Add peppers and garlic and sauté another minute.
Pour in rice and sauté stirring until well coated with oil. Add the simmering chicken stock and spread the rice and vegetables in an even layer with a spatula. Bring the paella to a simmer and arrange the chicken pieces on top pushing them slightly into the rice.
Put the paella into the oven and cook there for about 17-20 minutes or until all the liquid is gone, the rice is cooked and fluffy, and chicken is cooked through and juicy. I usually cover the pan with a piece of foil halfway through the cooking time. You will have to adjust it to your oven. You may need to cover the pan with foil right in the beginning or you may not need it at all.
If all the liquid’s gone, but the rice appears crunchy and undercooked, add a splash or two of hot stock and cook some more.
Sprinkle the cooked paella with parsley. To get socarrat, transfer the paella pan from the oven to the stove top and cook on high heat 1-2 minutes or until you get this nice toasty crust on the bottom. Check it with your nose (toasty smell), ear (crackling sound), or spatula (carefully lift the rice up and see of there is any golden brown crust underneath). Let paella rest for a couple of minutes and serve right in the pan.
Enjoy your paella!
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