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Summer Treats: Family Paella

Thursday, 13 August 2020 11:00

By Gillian Reay-Young

With summer in full swing, why not enjoy a family paella in the sun?

Ingredients

  • 8 mussels
  • 100g (3½ oz) peeled prawns
  • 1 small cooked lobster
  • 600g (1lb 5oz) diced chicken breasts (pork, or a mixture of pork and chicken works well too)
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 red or green pepper, chopped and seeded
  • 4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 350g (12 oz) long grain rice
  • 1.3l (2¼ pints) chicken stock
  • 100g (3½ oz) peas (frozen are fine)
  • A little saffron and seasoning

Method

  1. Shell most of the mussels and peel most of the prawns (if using fresh), leaving a few for decoration later.
  2. Remove the cooked lobster meat from the shell and dice, keeping the claws for decoration later.
  3. Put the olive oil in a large paella dish or frying pan and sauté the garlic, onion and pepper for five minutes until soft but not browned.
  4. Add the chopped tomatoes and the diced chicken (and pork). Lightly brown the meat.
  5. Stir in the rice and most of the stock, leaving a little to blend the saffron powder before adding to the mixture. Season to taste (if using stock cubes instead of chicken stock, then a little salt will be needed).
  6. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce and simmer for approximately 20 minutes, until the rice is just cooked and the meat is tender.
  7. Stir in the mussels, peeled prawns, lobster meat and peas, and simmer for a further eight to ten minutes.
  8. Serve the paella with a few strips of raw red/green pepper and the lobster claw, plus a few whole cooked prawns and cooked mussels in their shells scattered over the top.
  9. Serve indoors or alfresco, with a mixed salad and perhaps some garlic bread.

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