Paella with Seafood Chicken and Chorizo
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
- 1 cup Bell Pepper, diced (various colors)
- 1 cup Sweet Onion, diced
- 10 ounce package Yellow Rice
- 2 ½ cups Chicken Stock (I use Better Than Bouillon)
- ½ pound Large Shrimp, peeled and deveined
- ½ pound Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast, cubed in 1/2 inch pieces
- 4 ounces Spanish Chorizo
- ½ pound Live Mussels* (see Recipe Notes)
- ¼ cup White Wine (I use chardonnay)
- ½ cup Spanish Green Olives, halved lengthwise
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Fresh Lemon Wedges for garnish
- Fresh Parsley, chopped for garnish
Instructions
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In a stock pot or Dutch Oven over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the bell peppers and onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft, about 7-8 minutes.
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Add in the rice and stir for about 1-2 minutes then pour in the chicken stock. Stir and raise the temperature to high. Bring it to a boil then reduce the temperature to low. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes.
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As the vegetables are cooking in step #1, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a 10-12 inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the chicken breast and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the liquid runs clear, about 5-8 minutes. Set aside on a plate.
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In the same skillet, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Cook on both side about 2 minutes on each side, or until there is a little crisp on the shrimp. Set aside as well.
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Next, crisp the chorizo in the same pan. Heat them for only 1 minute. The pepper fumes will cause you to cough.
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In another skillet, add the white wine and live mussels* and cover. Allow the mussels to stem for 3-5 minutes. Remove the lid and all the mussels that are open. If there are any that are still close, return the lid and let them steam for another 1-2 minutes. Any that are still closed after this, discard. Only use the ones that open while steaming.
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Once the rice is done, add in all the meats - chicken, shrimp, chorizo, and 1/2 of the mussels - along with the Spanish olives. Stir well to evenly incorporate everything throughout the dish.
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When serving, top with fresh parsley, lemon wedges, and the mussels you reserved.
Recipe Notes
Yellow Rice - you can use white rice and add some saffron to make it yellow. Or, since saffron is costly, you can add a teaspoon of turmeric to the rice.
Chicken Stock - I like using this for the flavor. You can use straight water or vegetable stock instead.
Meats - this is where versatility really comes in. You can use pretty much whatever, or none at all. Original Paella was made with rabbit and snails, soooo, I guess it's whatever suits you.
Testing Mussels
It is important that you use only live mussels when cooking, otherwise you can get a stomach illness. But don't worry, testing them is super simple! Here's how to test the mussels to make sure they're alive before cooking.
- Run cold water over the mussels to clean and rinse them.
- The mussels that are completely closed are alive. Set these aside.
- Any that are still open, gently tap them on the counter about 5 times and run them under cold water again. If they close, they're alive.
- Discard any mussels that remain open. These are dead.