Serving size: Serves 4
Cuisine type: Spanish
Cooking time: Less than 60 minutes
Course: Main

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 chicken legs
1 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 bacon rasher, rind removed and roughly chopped
1 ½ cups long grain rice
1 red capsicum, seeds removed and roughly diced
1 ½ cups chicken stock mixed with:
½ cup of white wine
¼ teaspoon of saffron powder, stirred in (or use real saffron — say 10 strands soaked in the stock for 30 minutes before use)
1 medium size spicy sausage, roughly diced (chorizo or pepperoni)
500 g seafood marinara mixture, fresh or freshly thawed
Salt and cayenne pepper (both optional)
3 tablespoons chopped parsley

METHOD

If you have a paella pan, use it but do not use a wide open heavy based pan for this dish; heat the pan and add 1 tablespoon of the oil — when hot, brown and cook the chicken legs for 5 minutes. Remove them from the pan, add the rest of the oil and reheat.

Add the onions, garlic and bacon — cook for 3 minutes and stir all the time. Add the rice and capsicum — stir for a minute to coat it with the oil.

Pour the chicken/wine/saffron liquid over the rice and stir in over medium heat — add the sausage and seafood and mix them evenly through the rice. Push the chicken legs into the rice mixture and evenly around the pan and reduce to a low heat; cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the rice is cooked. If the rice is still not cooked through, add a little more stock or wine and cook until done.

Serve with the chopped parsley sprinkled over and with a cooked green vegetable of your choice — freshly cooked peas are good here and you will find some paella recipes which use them in the cooking. I find it better to serve them as a side vegetable.