1 paella pack for 2
1/3 red pepper
1 small garlic clove, crushed
1 lemon
1 medium onion
2 tomatoes (or use tinned)
20ml / 1 tbsp olive oil
½ level tsp paprika
Salt & pepper
1 glass dry white wine (or use water) |
1 Defrost paella pack, ideally overnight in fridge. Open and drain. The clams and mussels will be open. Rinse each clam individually under running water to remove all grit, inspecting carefully to check it has all gone. Season chicken and monkfish. Chop onion and garlic finely. Deseed pepper and chop into strips. Skin, deseed and chop tomato. Soak saffron in ¼ pt boiling water.
2 Gently heat olive oil in large frying pan (or use two pans). Brown chicken, remove.
3 Cook onions until opaque. Stir in rice, garlic, paprika, red pepper, tomatoes, saffron and its soaking liquid. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and stir for 5 mins until liquid absorbed.
4 Add further ¼ pint boiling water, plus wine, squid, monk, chicken, sausage. Keep to a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. IT MUST NOT BOIL.
5 Add clams, mussels and prawns. Cover with foil, cook 4 mins. Uncover and stir. Cook further 4 mins. Ideally the mixture should be moist but not runny. Cook a little longer if necessary, bearing in mind that it would be better to have a slightly runny mixture than to overcook the fish! Serve with lemon wedges.
Variations: add green beans or peas (at step 5), whitebait (fried separately and added at last minute), or snails (step 4). |
