Chicken and chorizo paella recipe | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the most important ingredient in paella Why is it so important? ›

Rice is the most important ingredient in traditional paella, and choosing the right type of rice is crucial to achieving the perfect texture and flavor of the dish. Short-grain rice is preferred because it has the ability to absorb the liquid and flavors of the dish while maintaining its structure and texture.

Don't stir the rice while cooking! Traditional paella cooks a crusty, flavorful rice layer at the bottom of the pan called the socarrat. The socarrat is a key component of authentic paella. Also, stirring the rice will make it mushy.

Bomba is the best rice for paella. It's not only authentic to the dish, but the results are almost always perfect. Calasparra rice is an excellent substitute if you can't get your hands on bomba rice. Arborio Rice can work if you can't get bomba or Calasparra.

Both Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay's go-to paella recipes include peas, chicken, chorizo and prawns. But new research has found that cooks from Valencia use just ten ingredients when making their national dish, none of which are fish.

The broth, together with saffron and sofrito, a mix of olive oil, tomato, garlic, and paprika, are responsible for the paella's flavor. Lledo says that a cook should not overload the paella with ingredients, either meat or vegetables. He says limiting ingredients and letting each element of the dish shine is key.

What Can You Not Put in Paella? Real paella does not include many ingredients that go into other rice dishes. Some of these include onions, peas, mushrooms, carrots, and chorizo. While all good combinations with rice, these aren't part of the traditional paella recipes.

Sofrito. Sofrito is a flavorful mixture of onions, garlic, tomatoes, and peppers that is used as a base for many Spanish and Latin American dishes, including paella. It's often called the "secret ingredient" in paella, as it adds a depth of flavor and richness to the dish.

Water is actually the most-often-used liquid in “authentic” paella, but stock is in many cases better. Chicken stock is all-purpose, and a not-too-strong meat stock will work nicely, too. Fish stock is fine as long as you're including fish, and a quickly made shrimp-shell stock might be your best alternative.

You should have noticed their 10 essential ingredients do not include onions. That's because the vast majority of Valencians agree that onions do not go into a Valencian paella. Valencians say onions make the rice go soft.

The most widely used, complete ingredient list of this era was: short-grain white rice, chicken, rabbit, snails (optional), duck (optional), butter beans, great northern beans, runner beans, artichoke (a substitute for runner beans in the winter), tomatoes, fresh rosemary, sweet paprika, saffron, garlic (optional), ...

What is an essential spice in paella? ›

Saffron is the most precious spice in the world and also a star ingredient in most paella dishes. Make the most of your paella night by using a high quality saffron.

Arborio rice – This short-grain rice is perfect for Paella because it absorbs flavors well and gives us that slightly crispy bottom layer. You can substitute it with other short-grain rice varieties like Bomba or Calasparra rice, which are traditionally used in Paella.

Skip the Boiling

Some recipes might direct you to boil fresh chorizo before grilling it. However, when you boil chorizo, the fat melts, resulting in dry sausage. If you're grilling chorizo, you can rotate your links often to ensure they cook thoroughly. Doing this can help you enjoy more flavorful chorizo!

Leave it be

In terms of the basic ingredients, paella is similar to a risotto. The main difference is paella doesn't require constant stirring. In fact, it's important not to stir it once the stock is added to ensure the delicious, light-golden crust, known as socarrat, forms on the base.

As you cook the chorizo, it will break apart similar to ground meat and produce grease. Consistently stir the chorizo until it has fully cooked, and drain any excess fat at the end of the cooking process.

Paella and the Importance of The Rice

Rice is paramount to Paella and requires the use of Bomba or Calasparra rice, a rice native to Spain and found in rice fields like this in the Albufera lagoon in Valencia.

Saffron is the most precious spice in the world and also a star ingredient in most paella dishes. Make the most of your paella night by using a high quality saffron.

Paella is a traditional Spanish rice dish that originated in Valencia, Spain. It is made with a variety of ingredients, including saffron, which gives the dish its characteristic yellow color and distinct flavor.

Paella pans are designed to transmit heat rapidly and cool off quickly when the heat is off, and the kind of metal they're made of plays a crucial role to achieve this. The size of the paella is an important factor, too.