One-Pot Wonders
Spanish Paella (vegan or seafood/meat based)
- Prep time 25 minutes
- Cook time 45 minutes
- Serves 6-8
Author Notes
Hearty Spanish-style paella, easily customizable. You can really use whatever meats and fish you wish. This can easily be made vegan (which I have done may times) by using a vegetable broth and vegan chorizo or other meat substitutes.
I used a 15 in. paella pan for this recipe. A paella pan is not essential, but do be sure to use a pan big enough so that the rice is not more than 2 inches deep.
This recipe has been adapted from several recipes and tweaked over several attempts to get just the right balance. I think this version hits the nail on the head, but feel free to tweak further to suit your own tastes. Let me how it comes out!
—Carol P.
What You'll Need
Ingredients
-
3 tablespoons
Olive oil
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3 pounds
About 1 lb. each chicken (cut up), cooked chorizo (cut into 1/2 in slices), and peeled deveined shrimp
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1
Medium onion, finely chopped
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1
Red red bell pepper, chopped
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3
Cloves garlic, minced
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1 teaspoon
Saffron, crumble
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1
15 oz. can diced tomato
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2 teaspoons
Smoked paprika
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5-6 cups
Chicken broth (I used Better Than Bouillion, but make it light, not too rich)
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2 1/2 cups
Short-grain Spanish rice (best to use Bomba rice)
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1 cup
Peas (I used frozen)
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1
Lemon
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1/3 cup
Parsley
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Salt & pepper to taste
Directions
- Heat 2 tbs oil in large pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute for about 8 minutes, turning midway to brown on all sides, but not cooked through. Do same with chorizo if it is not already cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add another tbs of oil and reduce heat to medium-low. Add onion and red pepper and cook until softened, about 5 min.
- Add garlic and smoked paprika. Stir to coat and cook for two minutes.
- Next add tomatoes, turn heat to medium-high and cook for 1 min. more.
- Add the rice and saffron, stir to coat.
- Add broth, salt & pepper to taste, and bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-high.
- Then add the chicken, chorizo, and peas and distribute through pan. Continuing cooking on medium-high heat until the most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 15 minutes.
- Place shrimp on top of rice and push down gently so that it is slightly submerged in liquid but still visible atop the rice. Add more broth if too dry (there should be just enough liquid to submerge shrimp). Cook until shrimp is pink and opaque, approximately 5-8 minutes. Lower heat and cover pan with lid or aluminum foil for 5 minutes.
- Off heat and keep pan covered for another five to ten minutes to let rice set.
- Squeeze lemon juice on top, garnish with parsley and place lemon wedges around sides of dish.
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