It was Paella time in the BUX office yesterday. We had a ball. Rafael brought his Paella pan from home, it was up to me to make the Spanish proud. No pressure! I love cooking this fantastic Spanish dish. It was my first time and I did take a lot of tips from our Spanish colleagues on board. Jamie Oliver made the base of the recipe, I did adapt it a little bit and voila, the feast was a fact. Yes, we did use chorizo and non of the Spanish people were complaining but loving it even more. What was that whole fuss about?

One tip from our Spanish Buxers was that you fry the pawns (and maybe other shellfish like mussels)beforehand. The juices left from that you add to the cooking stock for the rice. I definitely will try that the next time. -enjoy-

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 cloves of garlic
1 onion
1 carrot
½ a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley , (15g)
70 g quality chorizo
2 free-range chicken thighs , skin off, bone out
olive oil
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 red pepper
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1 organic chicken stock cube
300 g paella rice
100 g frozen peas
200 g frozen peeled cooked prawns , from sustainable sources
1 lemon

Method

Peel and finely slice the garlic, peel and roughly chop the onion and carrot. Finely chop the parsley stalks, then roughly chop the chorizo and chicken thighs.
Put a lug of oil into a large lidded shallow casserole or paella pan on a medium heat, add the garlic, onion, carrot, parsley stalks, chorizo, chicken and paprika, and fry for around 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
Deseed and chop the pepper, then add to the pan for a further 5 minutes.
Stir through the tomato purée and crumble in the stock cube, then add the rice and stir for a couple of minutes so it starts to suck up all that lovely flavour.
Pour in 750ml of boiling water and add a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Pop the lid on and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes, stirring regularly from the outside in and from the inside out, and adding a splash of water if needed.
Stir in the peas and prawns, replace the lid, and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until hot through.
Season to perfection, then chop the parsley leaves, scatter them over the paella, and serve with lemon wedges on the side for squeezing over.