Dragon's Print

What is made from rice, chicken, sausage, and seafood and still tastes good? The answer: paella! Paella is a Spanish dish that is very popular in the coastal parts of Spain — particularly in Barcelona — but still enjoyed inland. It is an easy dish to make that only takes 30 minutes to prepare and another 30 minutes to cook.

Here is my family’s recipe for paella that we love to use all year round. You will need the following ingredients:

• 4 tbsps olive oil
• 2 tbsp paprika 
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb chicken (preferably boneless)
• 2 lemons
• 1 qt chicken stock
• 1 onion (Spanish or white)
• ½ lb shrimp 
• ½ lb chorizo sausage
• 2 bell peppers
• 2 cups white rice (uncooked)

All ingredients are better fresh. 

To make paella, this is what you need to do:

1. First, you need to cut your chicken into two-inch cubes. 
2. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, paprika, and salt and pepper into a bowl and mix.
3. Add in the chicken pieces and stir to coat them with the seasoning. Afterwards, cover the chicken and put it in the fridge. 
4. Cut about 10 parsley leaves and grate two lemons.
5. Add two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan with medium heat. Add three cloves of crushed garlic, a teaspoon of crushed pepper flakes, and two cups of uncooked short white rice.
6. Stir the rice for about three minutes to cook it.
7. Add one bay leaf, chopped parsley, a quart of chicken stock and the lemons. Stir everything together and bring this to a boil. Cover the pan, change the temperature to medium-low, and leave it for twenty minutes.
8. Meanwhile, dice the onion and bell pepper. Remove the casing from one pound of chorizo sausage and pound it up.
9. In another pan, heat two tablespoons of olive oil with medium heat. Stir in the marinated chicken, and cook it for about three minutes.
10.  Add the chopped onions, cook for another five minutes, and then stir in the red bell pepper and the sausage. Cook everything for another five minutes. 
11. Stir in a pound of shrimp and then cook for about two minutes. 
12.  Add all of it together and then you will have paella! 

This recipe serves 5 people and is best eaten hot.

This is one of the easiest Spanish dishes to make. It serves all kinds of flavors from seafood to sausage to the amazing sauce. This is a great food for everyone from big families to college students on a budget because it is cheap and makes big portions.

This is how you cook paella. Now it is time to make it yourself!

References

Paella Recipe. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2019, from http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/paella-recipe.

Article by Danny L. (Grade 9); Feature image by Danny L. & Katrina R. (Grade 12)

The views expressed in this article represent the personal views of the author and should not be taken to represent the views of Dragon’s Print and Cebu International School.