The first time I attempted to cook authentic paella, I almost killed my guests.
I had prepared everything perfectly. I borrowed a huge paella dish from my friend Jason Lowe, a food photographer who knows how to do these things properly, and built a wood fire on the patio in our back garden. I quite forgot that the patio is made of cheap Chinese slate, containing pockets of air that expand, and eventually explode, when heated.
Tum-te-tum, on I pottered, oblivious to the mounting danger. Once the embers were glowing orange, I rested the pan on top, poured in lashings of olive oil and sweated down my “sofrito” of garlic, onion and peppers. Then I added the calasparra rice and stock, followed by chunks of chicken and rabbit and snails. (Paella originated inland, so the authentic version doesn’t contain seafood.) As the rice at the bottom of the pan crisped to form a perfect socarrat – derived from the Spanish verb to singe – I called my guests into the garden to marvel at my handiwork.
They stood around the fire oohing and aahing and then: BOOM! The slate exploded with a deafening crack. Shards of red hot slate, charcoal and paella flew into the air. (The next day I found charred detritus on the bathroom windowsill, two floors up. )
The guests ran screaming, like Pompeians fleeing Vesuvius. The blazing embers rained down on them, burning holes in their jumpers and melting the soles of their shoes. But I am fortunate in my friends: they are as stoical as they are greedy. Five minutes later, we were all sitting round the kitchen table tucking into a very gritty paella, swapping survivors’ tales and laughing with the slightly mad fellowship that comes from a narrow escape.
All of which has rather put me off authentic paella, so today’s recipe is determinedly inauthentic – and anyone who points this out in the comments below this article is invited to my house to stand close to the fire while I repeat the experiment. This version is very, very tasty and looks dramatic – just in a less life-threatening kind of way.
Paella
It is definitely worth investing in proper paella rice – calasparra is good. Risotto or short-grain rice will produce a tasty dish, but without the extraordinary giving, yet firm, texture you get from the authentic stuff.
Serves 4-6
150g cooking chorizo, sliced
400g boneless chicken thighs, cut into 3 slices
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 leek, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
A pinch of dried chilli flakes
2 strips of orange zest
A pinch of saffron
2 tsp smoked paprika
400g paella rice
At least 1 litre chicken stock
200g squid, cleaned and sliced
1 kilo mussels, cleaned
100g french beans, chopped
100g peas
Salt and black pepper
A handful of parsley, chopped
1 Heat the oil in a large paella pan (on the hob will do just fine) and brown off the chorizo. Remove from the pan. Fry the chicken in the chorizo fat for 10 minutes until well browned. Remove from the pan.
2 Cook the onion, celery, leek, red pepper, garlic, chilli, orange and saffron in the meat juices for 10 minutes without browning.
3 Add the smoked paprika and the rice and cook for a minute, seasoning well. Add the chicken stock and bring up to a simmer. Return the chorizo and chicken to the pan and cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes.
4 Add the squid, mussels, beans and peas to the rice. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes or until the rice is tender and the mussels have opened. Season well and sprinkle with parsley. Cover and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Salad with almonds and manchego
100g rocket
1 romaine lettuce
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
100g marcona (or other) almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
100g manchego cheese
Salt and black pepper
1 Wash and dry the rocket and romaine. Cut the romaine into thin slices lengthways. Put in a large bowl.
2 Whisk the vinegar and oil together and season well. Toss the lettuce with the dressing.
3 Sprinkle the salad with the almonds and shave the cheese over the top.
Roast figs with honey, crème fraîche and brandy
10 figs
2 tbsp runny honey
200g crème fraîche
50ml brandy
2 oranges, sectioned
2 tbsp shredded mint
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Cut the figs in half from the base to the tip. Put in a baking tray skin-side down. Drizzle with honey. Put a blob of crème fraîche on each fig and drizzle with brandy.
2 Cook for 15 minutes or until the top of the figs are browned.
3 Toss the orange sections with the mint. Serve the figs with a little orange salad.
- Paella pan and spoon from eatpaella.co.uk