When I was 17, I was lucky enough to spend several weeks in Spain before my senior year of high school. While I was there, I discovered paella {pie-ay-ya}. It’s made several different ways but most often with chicken and seafood. And as we all know, I absolutely love seafood. This paella recipe is very easy to cook making it a great weeknight dish and the ingredients can be easily altered to accompany those with shellfish allergies {like my dear husband}.
Chicken and Shrimp Paella
Yield 2 servings
Recipe adapted from "Cooking for 2," Summer Issue, 2008
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup fully cooked ham, cubed
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1/3 cup julienned sweet red pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1/2 cup uncooked arborio rice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 10-12 shrimp, cleaned and deveined
Instructions
- In a large skillet, saute the chicken, ham, onion, and red pepper in 2 teaspoons oil until the chicken is browned on all sides.
- Remove it with a slotted spoon leaving the remaining oil in the pan.
- In that same skillet, saute the rice in the remaining oil until lightly browned.
- Stir in the turmeric, cumin, garlic, and salt.
- Return the meat and vegetables and toss everything lightly together.
- Add the broth and bring it to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium and cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until the rice is tender.
- While the rice is simmering, saute your shrimp in a small pan until they’re pink all the way through.
- When everything is done, stir in the peas and shrimp and thoroughly mix together.
