Paella with artichokes, chicken, chorizo & shrimp
Paella is a wonderful entertaining dish. Paella is over-the-top delicious, can be made in advance and always wows your guests when you pull it out of the oven.
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 -8 servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- Olive oil, use as needed
- 2 fresh artichokes, trimmed
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 pound fresh chorizo sausage, cut into 2” pieces
- 1 1/2 onions, chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 red bell peppers, chopped
- 1 1/2 t pimenton de la vera, divided
- 6 plum tomatoes
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1 pinch of saffron, about 25 – 30 threads (optional)
- 5–6 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups bomba or callasparra rice
- 6 large unpeeled shrimp
- 12 1/4” strips of jarred piquillo peppers (optional)
- 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
- 1–2 lemons, sliced
Instructions
- Note: the first 6 steps can be prepared a day in advance. Put the trimmed artichokes leaves-side up in a steaming basket in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Put a few inches of water in the bottom of the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and steam, covered, for about 30 minutes. The artichokes are done when the leaves pull away from the heart with a gentle tug, but the leaves are still slightly underdone. Remove the artichokes from the pan and let cool. When they are cool enough to handle, slice the artichokes in quarters from stem to stern and remove the artichoke fur. Set aside.
- Liberally season the chicken with salt and pepper. Put a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven and brown the chicken on both sides over medium high heat. Remove the chicken and set aside. Cover and refrigerate if you are not going to finish the paella until later.
- In the fat rendered from the chicken, brown your chorizo in the same pan, turning so you get a good brown on all sides of the sausage. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside, or refrigerate if you are not going to finish the paella until later.
- To give your artichokes a flavor boost, quickly saute them in the remaining chicken and chorizo fat. Saute on both sides for a couple minutes each. Remove from the pan and set aside or refrigerate if you are not going to finish the paella until later.
- The next step is making the sofrito. Start by cutting the tomatoes in half and use your fingers to scoop out the seeds. Grate each tomato half with a box grater. Place the cut side of the tomato against the grater and rub until all the tomato meat is removed and only the skin remains. Discard the skins. Set aside the tomato pulp.
- Cook the sofrito in the same pan using the fat rendered from the chicken and the chorizo, adding olive oil as needed. Saute the onion and garlic over medium heat until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the red peppers and saute another 5 or so minutes. Sprinkle in 3/4 t Pimenton de la Vera and cook another minute or so. Add tomatoes and a big pinch of salt and stir to combine. Add a splash of olive oil and cook the tomatoes about 15 minutes. The finished sofrito should be squishy and jam-like, without a lot of fluids. Cover and refrigerate if you are going to assemble the paella later.
- To assemble the paella, start by heating your oven to 400 degrees. Put the saffron in a small bowl and add about 3 T of very hot water, and set aside for 10-15 minutes. In a large pot, bring the stock to a boil and then reduce the heat to low.
- Heat your paella pan over medium heat. Add a couple tablespoons or so of olive oil and heat up your sofrito. Add the saffron, the water the saffron is soaking in, and the remaining 3/4 t of Pimenton de la Vera. Stir and cook a few seconds. Add the rice to the pan and stir to coat each grain with the sofrito. This is the only time you stir the rice! Cook a few minutes and spread the rice out evenly in the bottom of the paella pan to form a thin layer. The layer should be 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick.
- Add 5 – 6 cups of hot broth to the paella pan. The liquid should come up to the handle marks on the inside of the paella pan. Spread the chicken, sausage and artichokes on top of the rice and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium/low and cook for 10 minutes. NO stirring! Arrange the shrimp and piquillo peppers on top of the paella. If the rice is looking a little dry add a bit more hot broth.
- Put the paella pan in the oven and bake an additional 10 minutes. If the paella is too liquid, cook for a few more minutes. If rice is too dry, add a splash or two of broth and cook for a minute or two more. Do not stir or even dip your spoon in the paella!
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley and lemon wedges.