Chicken, Chorizo and Pork Belly Paella

Paella is a Spanish rice dish that I have always loved for the juicy prawns and other exotic seafood you will find in the paella of fancy cookbooks and Spanish restaurants hitting the tourist market. These paellas are delicious but recreating them at home can be expensive after buying an array of different seafood and fish. But digging a little deeper into the history of Valencian paella, I have found that the basis of this original dish was in fact chicken and rabbit, much cheaper meats! I have taken the concepts of this original paella along with the typical flavourings, saffron and paprika, to create my own, good value-for-money, all meat paella.

Ingredients to serve 4-6

100g good quality chorizo finely chopped | 500g Boneless Chicken Thighs each quartered | 4 thin boneless belly slices (approx 500g) chopped into bitesize pieces | 400g Bomba Paella Rice | 2 large pinches saffron | 1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika | 2 litres chicken stock | 4 cloves garlic finely chopped | 1 chopped onion | 2 large handfuls of frozen peas | Handful chopped parsley | 1 lemon | Olive oil | Salt and pepper |

NB: I wanted to add chorizo for another slice of Spanish flavour and love the texture of the chorizo we sell in the shop, you can see it's made of good pork and has not been over processed!

Heat the oven to 190C | Heat the stock and saffron in a pan | Poach the chicken and belly pork pieces in boiling water for 15 minutes | Drain and leave to one side | Place the belly pork pieces on a baking tray and place in the oven for 10 minutes to crisp up the outside skin | Meanwhile heat a tbsp olive oil in a large, shallow pan | Fry the chorizo, onion and garlic till soft on a medium heat | Add half the infused stock, rice and paprika | Cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally |

After 15 minutes add the chicken pieces, and gradually add the rest of the stock as the rice absorbs it | After another 10 add the belly pork and frozen peas | Cook for a final 5 minutes or until the dish looks done! | Season, take off the heat, and leave for 5 minutes while you prepare some bread and/or salad as accompaniment | Serve, with a sliced lemon and parsley for garnish, at the table rustic-style allowing everyone to help themselves.

Mediterranean Risotto

Risotto is one of my favourite things to cook from scratch, but if I don't have the necessary store-cupboard ingredients- of which the list can be quite long- it can be expensive and take a considerable amount of time. In such times of need, I love that I picked up this sun-dried tomato and black olive risotto mix that Dad has started to stock in the shop.

I gradually added boiling water to the risotto mix in a pan for 25-30 minutes (instructions are on the back), adding some leftover cooked + sliced chicken breast, grated parmesan, and a knob of butter 5 minutes before the end. So simple yet so yummy!

 I think this recipe would be great for dinner parties when you want to impress with little effort or equally great for mid-week suppers. You can add as much or as little as you want to it as it is so delicious to start with. However if I were to make it really special, I might add some fresh sun-dried tomatoes and fresh herbs to garnish and give it that extra something.

NB: Click to see my moroccan chicken, couscous, and tzatsiki recipe that I cooked using a Mediterranean Couscous mix from the same range.