Paella Mixta (Mixed Meat and Seafood Paella)

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 300g skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 3cm pieces
• 100g cooking chorizo, sliced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 ripe tomatoes, grated, skins discarded
• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• A good pinch of saffron strands, about 0.3g
• 900ml hot chicken stock (2 stock cubes)
• 300g paella (bomba) rice
• 8 raw king prawns, in their shells
• 300g live mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 100g frozen peas
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Discard any mussels with cracked shells and any open mussels that do not close when tapped. Soak the saffron in 3 tbsp of the hot stock.

2. Heat the oil in a 38cm paella pan or very wide, shallow frying pan over a medium-high heat. Brown the chicken and chorizo for 6 to 8 minutes. Push to the edges, add the onion and pepper to the centre and cook for 6 minutes.

3. Add the garlic, tomatoes and paprika and cook for 5 minutes until thick and jammy.

4. Pour in the hot stock and the saffron liquid, bring to the boil and season; the stock should taste slightly salty.

5. Sprinkle the rice evenly over the pan and stir once. Do not stir from now on; this lets the rice develop a crisp, golden base (socarrat) on the bottom of the pan. Simmer over a medium heat for 10 minutes.

6. Nestle the prawns and mussels into the rice and scatter over the peas. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the rice is tender, the prawns are pink and the mussels have opened. Discard any mussels that stay closed.

7. Cover with foil, rest for 5 minutes and serve with the lemon wedges.