One-Pot Wonders

Moorish Paella

Name: Moorish Paella
Prep time: 8 h
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 4 bone-in skin on chicken thighs; 4 small or two large links of Merguez sausage (chorizo is fine if you can\'t find the lamb sausage); 1/2 head of cauliflower cut into pieces; 1 teaspoon caraway, ground; 1 teaspoon smoked paprika; 1 teaspoon paprika; 1/2 teaspoon cumin; 1 tablespoon harissa; 2 cups Arborio (or other short grain) rice; 8 ounces tomato sauce; 3 cups chicken stock; 1 pinch salt, more to taste; 1 small onion, diced; 1 garlic clove, diced; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 1/2 cup dry wine (I used a rose)

by: NWB

October 21, 2010

6 Ratings

Test Kitchen-Approved
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Author Notes

I love paella because it is a little more hearty and cozy than a lot of pasta dishes but just as versatile--you can pretty much fill the dish with whatever you have on hand. I came up with this recipe after a dinner party left me with a few lamb sausages, lots of spices and half a can of harissa I did not want to waste. - NWB —NWB

Test Kitchen Notes

The fun of paella is that it's a dish whose flavor you have to build, phase by phase, as you layer ingredients into the paella pan. You can see the dish darkening and intensifying as you move through the steps. In NWB's Moorish Paella you blend a spice mixture of caraway, smoked and sweet paprikas, and cumin, and add it a spoonful at a time so the heat and flavor magnify, and by the end you have a dish that reminds us in its burly spirit of jambalaya. - A&M —The Editors

Prep time 8 hours
Cook time 1 hour
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 bone-in skin on chicken thighs
4 small or two large links of Merguez sausage (chorizo is fine if you can't find the lamb sausage)
¹/₂ head of cauliflower cut into pieces
1 teaspoon caraway, ground
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon paprika
¹/₂ teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon harissa
2 cups Arborio (or other short grain) rice
8 ounces tomato sauce
3 cups chicken stock
1 pinch salt, more to taste
1 small onion, diced
1 garlic clove, diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¹/₂ cup dry wine (I used a rose)

In This Recipe

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Directions

In the morning place the chicken thighs in a plastic bag or bowl with a generous amount of salt to brine in fridge all day or at least 1 hour. Mix ground spices together in bowl with pinch of salt.
Cut sausage into discs and brown on each side in pan. You can leave them in links to brown as well, I prefer to cut them before cooking. Remove sausage onto paper towel lined plate and let cool. Leave fat in pan. Turn off heat if you need a few minutes to prepare next step.
Remove chicken from refrigerator and pat dry. Use the sausage fat and add olive oil if you need more. Over medium-high heat brown chicken skin side down for 3-5 minutes or until rich brown, turn over and brown for 2 more minutes. Remove chicken to plate with sausage.
Add olive oil as needed and onion to pan and cook about 3 minutes. Add dash of salt and a spoonful of the spice mixture. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add cauliflower and cook for 5 minutes. Add more of the spice mixture.
Add wine and scrape bottom of pan for any bits. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add sausage and harissa and stir until harissa is well incorporated. Add tomato puree and cook for 5 minutes. Add more spice mixture.
Add rice and distribute evenly across the pan. Add chicken. Add chicken stock. Add the rest of the spice mixture and season with salt. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until rice is cooked through--I find this varies depending on the stove top--20-30 minutes. You can cover the pan if it is taking too long to cook. After it is done cooking let sit off the heat for 2-4 minutes. Serve.

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80 Reviews

BigK October 5, 2020

I thought this was delicious but I learned something and I want to offer a suggestion. First, the learning. I used chorizo and quickly found that the chorizo I bought was not sliceable. So I learned to find a harder chorizo. Mine just crumbled that affected the texture of the dish. My suggestion is to add more cauliflower. Go for a whole, large head. It was delicious in these spices. I also added some yellow bell pepper because I had some I wanted to use and I’d do it again.

julianna K. May 15, 2020

I wonder if I missed something , reading all these wonderful comments?. The problems I had were: 1) started with one pan and had to switch to bigger. Would have been nice to have an idea of minimum size. 2) Distributing rice evenly in a pan with pieces of cauliflower was difficult and it clumped all over the place. 3) Since the size of chicken pieces and cauliflower varies according to what you have ( and is not indicated i.e 1/2 cup) the amount of liquid should be indicated as " coming up to bottom of chicken " or " chicken should sit on top of rice and liquid". Truly , I was in the dark, never having made paella. Flavors were good but clearer instructions would have made this much more peasant to make.

LPJ June 5, 2019

This is so good!

TS November 11, 2016

Wow! I just made this tonight for an early dinner. I couldn't stop eating it and my husband went back for seconds. This one is a keeper!

Christine March 23, 2015

This recipe sounds delicious, but please do not call it a paella.

pratchford September 20, 2014

I'm always a bit nervous serving guests something I haven't made before but turned out perfectly! he only thing I changes was I used 2 legs and 1 whole breast quartered.
Big hit.

Andrea M. June 22, 2014

So good! A couple of extra bits of chicken and it would feed six easily. I love the cauliflower masquerading as rice!

sevenfaces May 8, 2014

This makes so much rice! A couple more chicken thighs and I'd definitely say it feeds 6. I really liked the sound of the flavour combo so I almost doubled the amount of spice and tomatoes, reducing the amount of chicken stock accordingly. I always rinse my rice thoroughly as I can't stand a gluggy paella, so the texture turned out perfectly. Served with rocket on top and grilled corn and zucchini on the side for a well-balanced meal. Thanks for sharing this recipe :)

ElleM January 7, 2014

I would suggest, depending on party size, that you slightly reduce the rice, and thus chicken stock accordingly. I made this tonight, improvising with a tablespoon of 'Hot' chilli seasoning and a concoction of peppers + spice mixture from recipe. It was interesting, not bad actually, but it was just bleh. I just kept noticing how much rice there was, 2 large containers worth after dinner was put away. I think that my rice swelled, as I did notice a lot of stock in my pan initially, but it was perfectly cooked through. The dinner was made for two, intending on having leftovers, but now I think we may be able to stretch the rice into a side dish for steaks, or include steak chunks for lunches at work. Possibilities are endless; tastes like Spanish rice

Maria L. October 30, 2013

Me gustaria que llevara aceitunas. Es tipico en las Paellas. Gracias por estas recetas maravillosas.

adele93 February 18, 2013

i ended up just following the recipe, worked well though i was expecting a "deeper" flavour, i found the rice just tasted like the chicken stock and there was a spicy undertone - is this how its meant to be?

adele93 February 17, 2013

I've been asked to make this for 5 adults and i am wondering how the spices should be altered to ensure there is no loss of flavour. i am gonig ot increase the chicken to 7 thighs

adele93 February 17, 2013

and the rice to 500g along with the stock - any ideas

ingefaer January 21, 2013

This smells heavenly cooking on the stove. Have not started dinner yet. One thing I find, the amount of liquid to the amount of rice does not seem to be enough - I had to add a lot more stock.

Alan D. January 21, 2013

This is a brilliant variation, and kosher too. Can't wait to try it. To answer Musebe below, Ihave made paellas in large roasting pan. The importnat thing is that it be large and not deep so that the liquid concentrates rapidely and the rice doesn't get mushy. I use a similar technique in my kosher jamabalaya variation. So many jambalaya's are super mushy, but this one had firm rice like a good paella : http://alandivack.blogspot.com/2011/08/jambalaya-farkashert.html?m=1 . You can always treyf it up with seafood (don't overcook0 hama nd pork sausage if you want.

Musebe October 5, 2012

Paella not polenta lol

Musebe October 5, 2012

Is a polenta pan really needed for this dish?

Dtown B. August 12, 2012

I looked at this recipe a couple times, I finally made it and it was excellent!!! it's a keeper!!!!

darksideofthespoon June 21, 2012

This is a weekly staple at home now! It's amazing, tonight we don't have chicken thighs so we're making it with tons of sausage and prawns... I even made my own Harissa to use, very excited to see how it turns out - I'm sure it'll be stunning!

FERNANDA September 20, 2013

i WANT TO TRY THIS TONIGHT but WHAT IF HARISSA ' could you explain as i am not familiar with it...

Author Comment

NWB May 1, 2012

So glad your family liked it!

Burnt O. April 19, 2012

Oooo - I have leftover harris a from catering a party last weekend. Will pick up some merguez at the market with a head of cauliflower. Everything else is in the pantry / freezer. Can't wait!