Paella

 

 

I have wanted to make Paella for a while and now that I have, I have to say that it is one of those recipes that is so wonderfully tasty that I question myself as to what on earth took me so long.  It has many levels of flavor that you build that creates one incredibly delicious dish.  I knew this would be good but I was surprised at how flavorful it turned out.

I had to make this on a night my son wasn’t home since he is not a big seafood eater.  This is suppose to feed six to eight people so it was a lot of food for one person.  Needless to say I had leftovers for the rest of the week….and I didn’t mind one bit!  I used more shrimp in this dish and completely left out the chicken, but you could do just the opposite  and use all chicken if you are like my son and not a seafood eater.

I changed this recipe up a bit from the original to my own liking and taste.  The original recipe called for mandarin orange segments and frozen peas which I didn’t want in this dish but you may.  I also cooked the rice seperately and added it to the dish rather than placing the Paella in the oven to cook the rice.  It seems I have had trouble in the past getting the rice done that way.  This may break Paella tradition but it was insanely delicious just the same.

Please do give this a try my friends.  Enjoy!

With love,

Donna

 

PAELLA

1/2 lb bulk breakfast sausage

2 tbsp white wine vinegar (I’m sure I doubled that)

6 drops Tabasco

1 lb shrimp (or 1/2 lb shrimp and 1/2 lb chicken)

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

2 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 cup rice

In a LARGE frying pan over medium heat, brown the sausage.  Meanwhile get the rice started.  Stir the vinegar and hot sauce into the sausage.  Add the chicken (if using) and cook thoroughly.  Add the bell pepper, onion and garlic and cook until the vegetables are soften.  About half way through the rice cook time, add to the rice the tomatoes and remaining spices.  At this time add the shrimp (if using) to the sausage and cook until opaque.  When the rice is tender add the mixture to the sausage.  Stir until ingredients are well combined and serve.  Serves 6-8.

This recipe adapted from The Stocked Kitchen cookbook.