Denny's Easy Paella Recipe
Cook up a Batch of Paella
My husband's an adventurous cook who likes trying new foods. His first attempt at paella was a great success. Here's his recipe with his tips for making it extra yummy.
Paella is a marvelous blend of flavors with shrimp, chicken, and sausage. This colorful rice dish is super-easy to make and the family will love it.
You can develop your own variations over time and fit it to your family's preferences. It's a so tasty with the seafood, sausage, chicken and rice.
We like to make it for guests too. They always love it and are amazed when they see how simple it is to make.
Photo by Virginia Allain.
Ingredients
- 2 cups green peppers - cut into pieces
- 2 cups onions - chopped
- 2 cups peas
- 2 chicken breasts - cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 pound medium shrimp - cooked
- 2 chorizo sausages - cut up
- 2 cups saffron or yellow rice
- 4 cups of water
- olive oil to saute the meat in
Instructions
- Brown the chicken and sausages in olive oil with the onions in a large, deep skillet. Add the rice and 4 cups of water. Bring it to a boil. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. (Some rice requires a longer cooking time. Check the package and follow that.)
- Add the cooked shrimp and the peas. Continue simmering until the water is absorbed into the rice.
Please Rate the Ease of This Recipe
Have You Eaten Paella?
Vote in the Poll
Close up of the Paella Cooking
You can see the liquid hasn't been absorbed yet by the rice. The peas, shrimp and other ingredients make it very colorful.
Variations on Paella - Cookbooks
There's an amazing number of variations on paella. Try out some of these cookbooks to find the perfect one for your family or for company dinners.
Here are some ingredients others use: scallops, clams, shrimp, cod, squid rings, octopus, snails, rabbit. So almost anything goes as far as seafood and then white meat like chicken or rabbit.
Traditional Paella Recipes from Valencia, Spain
Step-By-Step
The Recipe in Photos
Cutting Up the Peppers
Cut up the Peppers
Wash the peppers. Remove the stem and seeds. Cut the peppers into pieces the size of a quarter. We like using red and green peppers for the color they add to the paella.
(photo by Virginia Allain)
The Chopped Onions
Chop up the Onion
We use a sweet onion like a Vidalia. Chop them coarsely.
Sometimes you can get sweet onions from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Those are called 1015 onions and work just as well as the Vidalias from Georgia.
(photo by Virginia Allain)
Thaw out the Frozen Peas
You can use fresh peas if you want. I just find it convenient to keep a big bag of frozen peas in the deep freeze.
I set the peas out to thaw while I'm chopping up the other vegetables. You can put them still frozen into the paella but it will slow down the cooking a little.
You Can Order Chorizo Online - Or Find It at Your Local Supermarket
YouTube Demonstration of Cooking Paella
Rinse the Shrimp
Denny used medium frozen cooked shrimp with the tails on. You can use larger or smaller, fresh or frozen and without the tails. If it is already cooked, just add it into the paella.
You can also add other seafood like mussels in their shells and scallops. We've found a frozen seafood medley at Sam's Club and Costco that includes shrimp, scallops, mussels, and calamari. That is super-convenient to keep in the freezer so you are ready to make paella at any time.
We particularly like to make it when we have visitors. They are impressed with the tastiness of the meal and are amazed at how easy it is to fix.
Use a Large Skillet or a Paella Pan
I have a deep skillet with a handle, but I can see the advantage of this kind with two handles.
A Paella Pan
Saute the Chicken, Chorizo and Onions
Put the olive oil in the skillet and get it hot enough to sizzle a bit as you add the chicken and sausage and onions. Stir this to keep it from sticking and to cook the pieces evenly. Get the chicken pieces browned.
Measure out the Saffron Rice
Denny is pretty generous measuring out the 2 cups of rice. Add this and the 4 cups of water to the meat in the skillet.
Bring it to a boil and reduce it to a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Cover it and let the rice cook until it absorbs all the liquid.
This Is the Rice That We Use
Paella Simmering on the Stove Top
Keep an eye on it so it doesn't get too hot and bubble over. Stir now and then to keep it from sticking or burning.
Chop up the Spring Onions
These get added at the table. They don't hold up well to heat, so don't put them in while it is cooking. Chop both the onion and the green stems.
Serve the Paella with White Wine
Sprinkle the cut up spring onions over the top of the paella.
Some recipes add scallops and mussels to paella.
Picture of Paella with Shrimp and Mussels
Photo available on a postcard from Zazzle: Spanish Paella Postcard by bbourdages. The meal is a delight to the eyes as well as a delight to eat. Look how colorful it is with the yellow rice, the pink of the shrimp, the dark mussel shells and the green of the spring onion tops sprinkled over it all.
© 2013 Virginia Allain