Cook: FJ Chicken Chorizo and Seafood Paella

This may not the most traditional or authentic paella (for one, I used a large all clad deep skillet because we do not own a paella pan; secondly most paellas are either meat or seafood but I went for a combo!), but it certainly is delicious and spectacular! All paella must have three important components: 1) the sofrito base, 2) the rice (short grain and starchy) and 3) saffron.

This recipe is a little more labor intensive then most of the recipes posted on this blog, but it is so worth it. The following recipe makes 6-8 hearty servings.

FJ Chicken Chorizo and Seafood Paella

Ingredients:

• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 red pepper sliced into strips
• 1 green pepper sliced into strips
• 3 large (4 medium) tomatoes chopped
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1/4 tsp Saffron (or a hearty pinch)*
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups of Valencia or Arborio rice
• pinch of paprika
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1-2  lemon
• 1 small bunch parsley
• 1 lb chicken breast (boneless, skinless) chopped into pieces
• 1/2 lb spicy dry chorizo, casing removed and sliced
• 12 fresh mussels, 12 fresh clams, 12 shrimp (raw with shells removed except tail)

Directions:

Start by making the sofrito: Heat a large saute pan or paella pan.  Add a generous drizzle of olive oil and add chopped garlic and onion, red and green peppers and the tomatoes. Cook for 5-10 minutes until the veggies are soft

In a separate small pan, brown the chicken in olive oil, remove from heat. Add the browned chicken and chorizo to the softened vegetable sofrito, let it bubble for 1-2 minutes.  Add the rice! Stir the rice continually in the sofrito until the pan becomes nice and dry (the rice should absorb all the liquid)

• When pan is dry, it's time to add more liquid. Add water to cover the rice plus 1/2 an inch more.  Add the saffron.
• Only stir the paella occasionally at this point to make sure the rice isn't sticking (burning) to the bottom of the pan. you don't want to overstir or the rice will start to break down and release too much starch. 
• Once the liquid is all absorbed, taste rice for doneness. Add liquid little by little (similar strategy for making risotto) until rice is done. 
• Add the seafood now as well as the edamame (or peas). Stop stirring. Turn down the heat, cover the paella pan with aluminum foil and let it gently simmer for 10-15 minutes 
• Remove foil, test for saltiness. Add salt to taste, paprika and/or cayenne pepper.  Squeeze some lemon juice and toss some chopped parsley into the mix.