When you watch Bill Granger cooking live, you can't help but fall for his Aussie charm and the fact he always presents himself as a lovely genuine bloke. My mum, the woman who probably (no I lie this is more a fact) owns a million recipes and hundreds of cookbooks, maintains if she met Bill, she'd really like to have him as her mate. And that's the sort of food his cooking easy. Easy food, shared with family and friends to be appreciated and enjoyed. What's not to like?
I was feeling adventurous this week and considering I'd never made one before, well not from complete scratch I decided to make Bill's Paella, from his Everyday Cookbook. Bill never fails to come up trumps with great achievable recipes. If you're going to give this book a go, I can guarantee that you will love Bill's Sticky Chicken with probably the best Asian salad I think I've ever made at home. Its beyond worth a make!!!
Anyway back to my fiesta feast of Paella. I adapted the recipe slightly, to meet the needs of mine and my boyfriend's shall we say, healthy appetites? I added a chicken breast and bought 100g of mussels from Tesco to add a little more protein and flavour. Hand on heart, thanks to Bill, I never thought Paella would be this easy.
Everything I need and a few little extras!
What a veritable feast! This dish pretty much has all my favourite things in it so it was bound to be a winner. I tend to only use Napolina tinned tomatoes. Ok, probably just me being a food snob, but regardless of cost they really do taste better. Only substitute here was having to used smoked paprika instead of sweet. Oh well.
Crisping the chorizo and adding some chicken
I defy anyone who when preparing chorizo can't help but to slip a few slices in your mouth. Bad me I know but the aroma of spicy pork sausage can sometimes prove hard to resist. I browned and crisped the chorizo in what seems like a lot of oil, but the rice base soon soaks it up, so no sleep lost there.
Simmer simmer!
Few mins passed and I seperated my crisp chorizo and chicken mix; it pained me to stop eating bits of sausage! Shallots and garlic were fried together for a few mins, before adding all my delightful spices, the arborio rice (coat in the oil and juices mmm!) and then the chopped tomato and stock. Cover and stir occasionally letting the rice soak up all those lovely goodies in the pan.
A few minutes later...
Give it a few minutes and the pan looked like this, and slightly more promising in the paella stakes. Perfect colour and taste not bad too! Fling in the cooked chicken, chorizo, prawns and mussels, along with some green beans and another ten minutes covered on the hob.
I sense a fiesta coming on!
I gave it the occasional stir to stop it catching on the bottom of the pan; generally on a whole keep your eye on your grub, in the blink of an eye that last bit of sauce or moisture from a dish can vanish, and this lot would be hard to get down your screech without a bit of help from a nice tomato based paprikary sauce.
Finito!
And there we have it! Not much too it but packed full of authentic Spanish flavour. The great thing about this dish, is you can change it to suit you. Don't like shellfish? Whip em out? Pescatarian? Chuck out the chicken and chorizo. Possibilities are endless but all in all a great weekday treat, all washed down with a bottle of Dino Pinot Grigio; deeeeeeeeeeeeeelish
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