If you haven’t heard of the Hairy Bikers, you’ve missed something! They are two guys from the Northeast of England who ride motorbikes, and have created an enormously successful series of cooking shows on BBC TV. Go to https://www.hairybikers.com/about to learn about them, and be sure to visit their recipes page. They are surprisingly talented and diverse. Warning: you may need to turn on subtitles/CC in order to understand their accents.
The Hairy Bikers’ Paella
Transport the flavours of the Mediterranean into your kitchen with our delicious paella recipe.
Servings: 8 to 10
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 6 chicken thighs boned, skinned, cut in half (about 600g/1lb 5oz)
- 150g (5oz) cooking chorizo skinned and cut into 5mm/¼in slices
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 300g (10½oz) fresh large tomatoes halved, seeds removed, flesh grated (then skin discarded)
- 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 1 lemon zest only
- 1.5liters (2½ pints) hot chicken stock
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 200g (7oz) green beans cut into short lengths
- 500g (1lb 2oz) Calasparra rice*
- 1 tsp saffron threads** soaked in a little warm water
- couple handfuls live mussels cleaned, de-bearded and rinsed (discard any mussels that do not snap shut when tapped)
- 12 raw king prawns (jumbo shrimp)
- lemon wedges to serve
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a 36cm/14in paella pan or a very large frying pan set over a medium heat. Season the chicken thighs with salt and freshly ground black pepper and fry for five minutes, turning regularly until lightly coloured. Add the chorizo and cook for a further minute.
- Add the garlic and cook for a further couple of minutes, then push everything to one side. Add the tomatoes and fry for a few minutes, then mix everything together and sprinkle in the paprika and lemon zest. Pour in all but a large ladleful of the chicken stock and return to the boil. Add the bay leaves, thyme and green beans and season with a little salt.
- When the chicken stock has returned to the boil, turn down to a simmer and sprinkle in the rice, trying to get it into as even a layer as possible. Pour in the saffron and stir – this is the only time you should stir your paella once the rice has been added! Bring to the boil again, then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat down and leave the rice to simmer slowly – this should take between 12–15 minutes. If it is getting dry, taste – if still a little too firm (crunchy), add a little more stock. When you are satisfied the rice is al dente, arrange the mussels and prawns over the paella. Cover with a damp teacloth or a lid if you have one and wait for the mussels to steam open and the prawns to turn pink. Serve with lemon wedges.
Notes
*Calasperra rice may not be easily available (I couldn’t find it on Whole Foods, but I did on Amazon – often in huge bags, but some more reasonably sized). A common alternative for Paella is Bomba rice (again, I couldn’t find it at Whole Foods, but it’s available on Amazon – you can search for Paella Rice as well).
One online suggestion was to use Goya medium grain rice (again, not seen at Whole Foods, but available on Amazon) **Saffron is expensive, and can be a little tricky to find. Shaws has it in Milford, at least. Or you can get it on Amazon. Strangely, it wasn’t available on Whole Foods, at least at the closest one to me.
One online suggestion was to use Goya medium grain rice (again, not seen at Whole Foods, but available on Amazon) **Saffron is expensive, and can be a little tricky to find. Shaws has it in Milford, at least. Or you can get it on Amazon. Strangely, it wasn’t available on Whole Foods, at least at the closest one to me.
