Spanish Paella

This is what I call a "Saturday Night Dish".  Saturday Night is the beginning of my weekend, and I have the patience to put together a nice meal.  My younger kids will help me prep the ingredients, and we hang in the kitchen and chat about their day.

Don't worry about the crust on the bottom of the dish.  The pan can be easily soaked in water to remove once it's softened.

We make this at our cooking classes, but don't include the prawns.  Although it's one of the dishes hero's, prawns could be replaced with calamari, or simply left out due to allergies etc.

Kids will love to put this recipe together - it's full of flavour without being overly spicy. 

Ingredients:

•Pinch saffron threads

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 (125g) chorizo, thinly sliced

• 2 (260g) chicken thigh fillets, cut into 3cm pieces

• 1 medium red onion, halved, thinly sliced

• 3 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 small red chilli, finely chopped

• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika

• 1 medium red capsicum, thinly sliced

• 1 cup Arborio Risotto Rice

• 400g can chopped tomatoes

• 2 cups chicken stock

• 12 med green prawns, peeled, tails intact, deveined

• 1/2 cup frozen peas

• Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves and lemon wedges, to serve

Method:

1. Combine saffron and 1 tablespoon warm water in a jug. Stand for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large frying pan, over medium-high heat. Cook chorizo, stirring, for 3 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a plate. Cover to keep warm. Add chicken to pan. Cook for 3 minutes each side or until browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate. Cover to keep warm.
3. Add onion, garlic, chilli and paprika to pan. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until onion has just softened. Add capsicum. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until softened. Add rice. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until rice is coated. Add saffron mixture, tomato and stock. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until rice is almost tender.
4. Return chicken and chorizo to pan. Stir in prawns and peas. Cover. Cook for 3 minutes or until prawns and peas are cooked through. Serve topped with parsley and lemon wedges.