NOT QUITE PAELLA

This is a dish which evolved from a family recipe I learned from my mother-in-law who got many of her recipes from my father-in-law's family. They were Italian but had a lot of Spanish influence from friends in their Tampa neighborhood. 

This is a great dish to serve for a crowd since you can prepare most of it in advance - if you omit the shrimp you can do the entire thing in advance! 

Because all of the meats are cut bite-sized you don't need a knife to eat it!

NOT QUITE PAELLA Ingredients: 

¼ cup olive oil 
½ pound boneless chicken cut into bite-sized pieces
½ pound sweet or hot Italian sausage cut into 1" pieces 
½ pound shrimp 1 medium green pepper cut into 1" squares 
1 medium red pepper cut into 1" squares 
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped 
1 small can tomatoes, chopped - reserve juice 
¼ teaspoon saffron 
2 bay leaves 
salt and pepper to taste 
2 cups Uncle Ben's rice 
3 cups hot chicken stock 

1. Soak saffron threads in chicken stock. 
2. In a large sauté pan, heat oil, brown chicken, and sausage in separate batches, remove and set aside.
3. Cook onion, 2 cloves of garlic and peppers till soft.
4. Add saffron, tomatoes and juice, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes. 
5. Add rice and stir thoroughly. Add hot chicken stock, chicken and sausage, stir well. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is almost cooked. 
6. Sauté shrimp with remaining clove of garlic till almost cooked then add to rice mixture for final few minutes of cooking. 

Dish may be prepared a day ahead up to step #6. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Reheat over low heat, sauté shrimp with garlic and add to rice mixture. 

You may vary the ingredients to suit your taste. For example: use chorizo instead of Italian sausage, add clams, mussels, lobster. Make it vegetarian by adding asparagus, artichoke hearts, carrots, peas, etc. and replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock or even water. You may also use Arborio or any other rice you may prefer.

Watch the video demonstration:



COMMENTS:  


Betty,

Made your "not quite paella" today and it was a big hit.
It was really quite good.
Easy to make.

We have enjoyed all of your recipes.