Fantabulous Food! Chicken Paella

I wanted to give the Filippo Berio olive oil that I received from BzzAgent a good try; so I went to the Fillippo Berio suggested recipes and I was really feeling the paella idea :) Personally, I'm not a big fan of mussels and that is one of the ingredients for the one on the Filippo Berio site, so I decided to look up another recipe that was a little less-shellfish-friendly. I found this recipe and just changed a few things to work with the ingredients I already had at home. We were really happy with the results!

Chicken Paella:


Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper
• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2" strips

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed (I used 4 tsp minced garlic)
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 cups uncooked short grain white rice (I used brown rice because it's what I had at home)
• 1 pinch saffron threads (I used con azafran mix I already had)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped (I used 2 tbsp dried parsley)
• 1 quart chicken stock
• Zest of 2 lemons

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 lb chorizo sausage, crumbled (I used all beef hot dogs and diced them up small)

1. First off, you need to make your marinade for the chicken. Start with 2 tbsp of olive oil.

Then add 1 tbsp paprika, 2 tsp oregano, salt and pepper. Mix well so it's all combined.

2. Pour marinade over the chicken pieces and stir until they are all coated. Store in the fridge while you work on the rest.

3. Next, heat up 2 tbsp olive oil in medium high heat in a large pan or paella pan. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and rice and stir well. Heat up while stirring for about 3 minutes to make sure that the rice is fully coated in the oil.

4. Add bay leaf, parsley, saffron, lemon zest, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to medium low. Let cook for 20 minutes. (I had to cook mine for about 40 minutes because of the brown rice)

5. While the rice cooks, bring out the chicken and get going on that. In another skillet, heat up 2 tbsp olive oil on medium high heat. Add onion and marinated chicken and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. Add sausage and red pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7. Serve by putting rice on the plate first and topping it with a spoonful of the chicken mixture.

I have to say, this came out very tasty :) I was a little afraid since I made so many changes to the recipe, but you really couldn't even tell I had left anything out, which is always good. It had a great flavor with a little bit of spice and using the Filippo Berio olive oil really made for a smooth base flavor for all the others to build on. It really was surprisingly good for my first paella :) I've always been afraid it would be too difficult and time consuming (especially since every restaurant that offers it takes 45 minutes for it to be served), but it was really no more difficult then any other recipe I usually make. If you're like me, you should brave it out and give it a whirl - you won't regret it!