Easy Spanish Paella

Paella is a great vehicle for using up any leftover cooked meat or sausage that you’ve got in your fridge. The saffron spice gives this dish a wonderful authentic flavour and ‘mellow yellow’ colour.

By Caroline Marson

Cookery advisor All recipes by Caroline Marson

Ingredients show imperial units

Prep time 20 min
Cook time 20 min
Serves 4

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, finely chopped
Pinch of saffron threads (optional)
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and chopped
200g long grain or risotto rice
250ml white wine
500ml chicken stock
350g pack mixed seafood, frozen
Leftover cooked meat such as chicken or pork
About 2 spicy cooked sausages such as merguez or chorizo, sliced
125g frozen peas
salt

Salt

Consider tablesalt, sea salt or crystals.

Sea salt’s pronounced and salty flavour means less is required to season food.
ground black pepper
Black peppercorns

Best used as a condiment.
They can be lightly crushed and used to spice up a creamy sauce or to coat fillet steak or chicken breasts.
- Although it might seem odd, grinding black pepper over a bowl of strawberries enhances the flavour of the fruit.
- Pepper that is pre-ground is not fresh tasting and often has other ingredients mixed in.
- Choose the type of mill that suits you, and if you want coarser pepper you can loosen the screw on the top of the mill or crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan add the onion and cook gently for 5 minutes. Meanwhile soak the saffron in 2 tbsp hot water, if using.
Add the peppers, garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Stir in the rice, wine, hot stock, saffron mixture and seasoning. Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring occasionally until almost all the liquid has disappeared, add the seafood, leftover meat and spicy sausage, cover, turn the heat down and simmer for 5 min, taking the lid of every few minutes to give it a stir.
Add the peas and cook for a further few minutes until the liquid has evaporated. Season and serve immediately.

As rice is relatively cheap, it is easy to get in the habit of throwing too much into the pot. Your standard tea mug is a handy tool for measuring uncooked rice. A full cup of rice will feed 4 adults and 1/4 mug feeds 1 adult.

Note: Rice safety

It's best to serve rice when it has just been cooked. If that isn't possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) and keep it in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating. Never leave cooked rice to cool on its own - always chill it quickly for example under running cold water. If cooked rice had been chilled or frozen ensure that it is thoroughly reheated and is piping hot throughout. Never keep rice chilled for longer than 1 day or frozen for longer than 1 month. Once cooked rice has been re-heated, throw away any leftovers. Never re-heat rice more than once.

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