Spanish style chicken & prawns

For absolutely ages, hubby has had a yen to make a paella-style dish.  Of course, he'd have absolutely loved to have made true paella, but I fear that's beyond our purse at the moment.

I've got to say, though, that the dish he made last night - Spanish style chicken and prawns - is so "after the style of" a paella, that he got as close as he could have done.

He'd obviously spent some time thinking about how he was going to approach the cooking of the dish, having decided to marinade the chicken and cook it separately, so as to preserve the flavours of the marinade.  He absolutely achieved that, as the chicken was discernibly flavoured differently to the rice.  This made for interest in a dish which could very easily have been one overall flavour.

He used pepperoni sausage, as we had some left over from some Calzones he was going to make last week.  I think I probably preferred the pepperoni, as the paprika from the chorizo, together with the two paprika's used in the dish could very easily have been too much for me.  I seem to have become quite paprika-sensitive in my old age!

We were both agreed that it would have finished it off perfectly to have had a sprinkling of chopped parsley to serve - so you may want to add that if you try this dish.

One thing that is worth saying about the meal, is that Son & heir started it suspiciously but was very soon tucking in and polished off the lot!  So that was a seal of approval as regards its kid-friendliness.

It is now March 2015 and I have just made the dish again.  (See photograph above).  It was a late addition to the menu plan, as son & heir's lady love was coming for dinner.  Everyone declared the dish was delicious, son & heir gave it the best accolade by having two enormous platefuls!

SPANISH STYLE CHICKEN & PRAWNS  (serves 4)

Ingredients :

2 tbsp olive oil, used separately
2 chicken breasts, sliced into small pieces

half a lemon, juiced

freshly ground black pepper

half a tsp smoked paprika
sea salt

a small knob of butter

1 large spanish onion, chopped

1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped

1 yellow pepper, de-seeded and chopped
4 mushrooms, sliced

1 red chilli, de-seeded and chopped very fine

2 clove garlic, chopped fine
100g skinless chorizo, cut into small half moons

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp of paprika (not smoked)

300g long grain rice, rinsed in warm water until the water runs clear

1 litre chicken stock (2 stock cubes are fine)
pinch of saffron

2 handfuls of frozen peas, defrosted

200g prawns, defrosted

1 large de-seeded tomato, chopped.

Method :

1.  Place the chicken into a bowl and squeeze over the juice of half a lemon.  Add a few grinds of fresh pepper and the smoked paprika.  Stir and marinade for half an hour.

2. Add the olive oil to a frying pan and fry the chicken until golden brown all over.  Remove from heat and set to one side to keep warm.

3.  Add the knob of butter and more olive oil to the pan and saute the chopped onions, chopped pepper, sliced mushrooms, chopped chilli and garlic until soft.

4.  Add the chorizo pieces and cook for several minutes, until they have begun to release their oils.  Return the chicken to the pan.

5.  Add dried oregano and paprika, then add the rice and stir until coated with the seasoned oil.

6. When the rice is hot, add the chicken stock and saffron and stir through.

7.  Cook until the rice has absorbed almost all the liquid and add the peas.  Cook until the peas have warmed through.

8.  Add the prawns and tomato.  Stir and cook until the rice is tender and everything is heated through.

Serve.

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