Week night Paella

Paella, more rapidly…

We all want an enjoyable meal at the end of the day, but time, oh time…it’s so hard to find enough time to prepare all of the great dinners we’d like.

Paella is a dish that is steeped in tradition, sunshine and saffron..so who wouldn’t want to enjoy it on a regular basis?

My passion for paella, and all things fragranced with saffron has been absorbed by the next generation at the market, therefore the demand for this saffron scented dish has put it on the weeknight menu line up. To make this more rapidly, for weeknight enjoyment, a more streamlined method had to be developed.

This weeknight crowd is happy to do without the traditional seafood, and pieces of chicken which call for a knife and fork. These considerations helped to keep things simple.

So, with that explanation, here is my weeknight version of this colorful Spanish classic, with some suggestions on additional shortcuts.

One thing to consider, is that paella is one of those great “clean out the cupboard” recipes….there are trillions of variations. Add a little more or less of any ingredient as your larder provides. If you love lentils, try it. Hate peppers? Omit.

It’s your paella — enjoy.

Included in this this step-by-step process, are notes on what it would be like to be cooking this over a campfire, one of the great culinary delights of the world! I hope you get to try it sometime. (If you didn’t read my piece about my passion for paella, which included information about cooking this dish over a campfire in Spain, please click on Paella).

Weeknight Paella

serves 6, or 4 -with lots of leftovers

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1 tablespoon (about .028 ounces) saffron threads

6 cups chicken broth (or the liquid of your choice, see information below)

4 Chorizo sausage links

2 cups Bomba rice

2 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes

2 sweet peppers, cored and thinly sliced

1 onion, coarsely chopped

3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1 full boneless skinless chicken breast (2 sections)
1 – 14 ounce can of quartered artichoke hearts

1 – 4 ounce jar of pimentos
1/2 cup spanish olives (green, stuffed or not)

3 – Tablespoons of capers

1 tablespoon Pimenton De La Vera

salt and pepper

optional extra seasonings: wine, olive oil, garlic

Here is the step-by-step process I generally follow for weeknight paella. (Some of the ingredient preparations will be repeated in the step-by-step).:

Step 1: the peas:

Pour a cup of frozen peas into a colander to thaw.

Step 2, the flavor:

I usually use a 2.5:1, chicken broth to rice ratio, and I use WAY more saffron than anyone recommends because I believe if you are going to cook with saffron, you should be able to really taste Saffron.

Crumble the saffron threads between your fingers into a medium sauce pan, turn the heat to medium high. Shake the threads around in the pan over the heat until you can smell the saffron fragrance.

Add 6 cups of chicken broth, or any combination of flavorful liquid (i.e. clam broth, vegetable broth, spice it up with a little dry sherry or wine).

Bring to a boil, then turn off heat and allow the threads to steep in the liquid.

Step 3: The “fresh” prep:

I love to get everything prepped in advanced so that once the heat is on, I can throw it all together like a master magician. The total prep time was about 35 minutes, I’ll let you know of possible short cuts.

Because they were “on the verge” I chopped up 2 heirloom tomatoes I had in the kitchen, about 2 cups of roughly chopped tomatoes.

You could use canned diced tomatoes, and your paella will still be divine.

Core and slice 2 bell peppers ( I like to use yellow and orange for color). Thinly slice the peppers.

(If you use roasted pepper from a jar, I won’t tell a soul!)

Coarsely chop one onion.

Coarsely chop 3 garlic cloves.

Thinly slice, against the grain, 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (2 lobes), cut the slices in 1/2. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper and put them in a bowl. If you want to add a little more flavor, marinate the chicken in about 1/2 cup olive oil (fat adds flavor), and as much or more wine (I had some leftover red on hand).

Wash, dry and chop the parsley.

Here are all of the “fresh” ingredients, prepped and ready to go.

Step 4: The Canned Ingredients:

In a steamer or colander in the sink pour out:

1 – 14 ounce can of quartered artichoke hearts

1 – 4 ounce jar of pimentos

3 – Tablespoons of capers
1/2 cup Spanish olives

Altogether now:

I love using a traditional paella pan, it makes a nice, traditional presentation. But on a weeknight my over sized, nonstick skillet fits better on the kitchen burner and is easier to clean.

Cut the casings off of 4 chorizo sausage links (Whole Foods makes a fantastic chorizo, we enjoy both their pork and chicken versions).

Over high heat break up and brown the sausage.

If you were cooking over a Spanish campfire, it has just been lit. Your fire and all of the logs are burning at a full heat.

When the sausages have lost any raw color, add the onions, peppers and 1/2 of the chopped garlic. Saute for about 3 minutes or until they are just translucent.

Pour in 2 cups of rice. Stir and allow the rice to absorb flavors and toast a little, for about 3-5 minutes more.

The most absorbent rice is the Spanish bomba rice.

An Italian aborio rice would also work well.

Reduce the heat to medium high.

At this stage, the flames of your Spanish campfire have settled down, and are providing an even, medium high heat.

Add the tomatoes, peas, and the canned/jarred ingredients (artichoke hearts, piementos and capers) and the rest of the garlic.

Add 1 teaspoon sea salt.

Add the sliced chicken breast to the mix.

Sprinkle on a tablespoon of Pimenton De La Vera, a Spanish smoked paprika.

One of the significant time savers of this version, is that the boneless skinless chicken breasts are poached in the saffron broth at the end.

Traditionally, the bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces are sauteed at the beginning of the preparation.

While this does save quite a bit of time, I notice a little less flavor, and the rice is a little drier than I like. Here is what I do to make up for it:

Extra flavor:

Peel 3 cloves of garlic and cut them in 1/2. Put them into a bowl and add a cup of olive oil. Place the garlic infused olive oil on the table for diners to flavor their paella during the meal.The garlic infused olive oil is a great way to bring in some flavor and (healthy) fat.

Pour in the saffron infused broth.

Stir the mixture around so all of the colors and flavors are mixed.

Let the concoction bubble away for about 15 minutes over medium high heat.

Reduce the heat to medium.

Your Spanish campfire would be settling down to a high simmer heat now.

Allow it to gently bubble for another 1/2 hour (if you haven’t done so yet, please pour yourself a glass wine, or something refreshing now).

The Spaniards pride themselves on serving a Paella with a nice golden crust on the bottom, this is why you don’t stir the paella.

Of course, cooking times will vary depending upon the stove (or firewood). To be sure of doneness, it is best to try some of the grains of rice on the surface of the dish. They should be soft and moist — not at all crunchy.

Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley (the most overused and under appreciated herb). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Lemon wedges, hot sauces and the garlic infused olive oil on the table will be be great additions to this dish.

Saffron, Pimenton de la Vera, and Bomba rice can be found at The Spanish Table, Amazon Fresh, or Amazon.com and many grocery and specialty stores.

If you don’t have Amazon Fresh service yet, I am so sorry! It is the greatest service. They deliver all of my kitchen and cleaning staples right to my back door (not to mention books, cd’s, soccer shin guards (I’m not kidding). I buy these jars of saffron from them almost every week — .02824 ounces for just under 12 dollars.