EASY PAELLA
Paella my way squid nuggets, crab sticks and mini pork bangers. Take that Spain!
- 1 cup Arborio or medium grain rice (I used Tastic’s Bonnet tonight and worked well) * long grain rice or basmati won’t work as well as a medium grain rice.
- 1 large onion, chopped finely
- 1 celery stick with leaves, chopped up
- 1 green pepper, chopped in cubes
- 2 garlic cloves, finely grated or chopped
- 2 chicken stock cubes, dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ tin of chopped tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon of turmeric or a couple of saffron strands (these can be dissolved in warm water)
- 3 teaspoons smoked paprika (normal paprika just won’t give the flavour you need)
- small packet of mini pork bangers
- 1 cup frozen squid nuggets
- 1 cup frozen crab sticks, plastic wrapper removed and sticks cut into 1 cm pieces
- freshly chopped parsley for garnish
First fry the mini pork bangers in a little oil in a heavy bottomed wide pot (I use my black cast iron flat bottomed pot). Once browned all around and cooked through remove and keep aside.
Fry the onion, garlic, green peppers and celery in the same pot until onion translucent.
Add the rice, turmeric and paprika and stir fry the rice for 5 minutes in enough oil to coat each grain.
Pour the white wine over and deglaze the bottom of the pot for a minute. Turn the heat down, pour the hot chicken stock over, add the chopped tomatoes and simmer the rice until all the water has been absorbed.
If the rice is not cooked through add another cup of water.
Note:
DO NOT STIR THE RICE. You want a socarrat (crust) to form in the bottom of the pot. It’s when all the flavours cause a caramelization to form and it’s quite delicious.
Just before the rice is completely cooked, add the squid nuggets, chopped crab sticks and the mini pork bangers which you can cut a bit smaller. Put the lid on top of the pot and just allow the crab and squid nuggets to steam through until done. The squid changes from a translucent colour to opaque.
Serve with the chopped parsley.
