Chicken Chorizon Paella

Any time I've ever made paella in the past, I've felt slightly lacking in authenticity due to the lack of chorizo in the recipe. Though I was not eating meat back then, and I have made paella with soy 'chorizo', the taste was obviously lacking something. I keep comparing my paella to that of the well known paella at Taberna del Alabardero, where I worked one summer in 2006. Well finally A and I took a holiday to Barcelona. I can't believe it took me so long after living in Europe to make it to the country of my second language! We had a great time and ate out and enjoyed parks and seaside views and I didn't leave without buying some chorizo to take home with me.

What's great about chorizo, and much like all of the different types of cured ham you can find in Spain, the curing process allows the meat to stay good for quite a long time, even at room temperature. So taking it home was entirely possible and safe. Paella is such an easy recipe to make. Especially since it's really a one dish recipe. You can cook everything in the same deep pan.

This large stick of chorizo 'picante' cost only 3,45e.

Start with onion and bell peppers and fry them in some olive oil. 

 Add the chicken and diced chorizo and cook for a few minutes. Add a cup of porridge rice to two cups of water, or as much rice and water as you can fit in your pan, with a 1:2 ratio. It depends a lot on how many servings you want. You can also use normal long grain rice or brown rice, but keep in mind that it takes longer to cook. Add peas and stir in salt or other flavorings. I used one cube of chicken stock and some chilli pepper. Saffron would also make this dish even more authentic. Alas, I didn't have any.

Cover and don't lift the lid for about 20 minutes, or as long as the rice package indicates. 

The result is a colorful, nutritious and filling dish that everyone will like. I enjoyed my paella out on our balcony on the picnic table :)  Now I'll have to come up with something new to make to use up the rest of the chorizo.