Estrella’s Paella

I have a dear friend, Estrella, who lives in Gibraltar, whom I don’t get to see enough but we keep up all the time. Aside from being a holy riot and great fun to spend time with – she is a wonderful and spiritual person and certainly not last, or least, a renowned cook. (Yes, I do have friends who don’t like to cook, too 🙂 ). She’s had recipes and articles in the Gibraltar newspapers and most recently had a zoom show for an organization called TAL (a worthy cause) where she demonstrated her famous gazpacho (another post another time) and her paella, Spain’s national dish (just past the frontier, they don’t call it the border, of Gib).

Now, since we are kosher cooks, we don’t use shellfish and she prepared it with tuna (I’ve eaten it in her home, awesome) but I really wanted to prepare it with at least some of the original paella ingredients such as chicken and chorizo (kosher sausage version, natch). Kosher cooks do not mix meat/chicken with fish, so this is as close as we can get. Estrella prepares it with chicken sometimes and her daughter does it with little sausages, so so far no real divergence.

So , off I went to purchase frozen peas and passata, which is basically tomato puree – not tomato paste and I found it locally, yay me! If you can’t find it, you could just dilute tomato paste till a bit thick with water. She also forbids the use of basmati rice (my fave) so I sighed and purchased jasmine rice, a medium grain rice. Sorry my love, no Uncle Ben’s around, and there is a huge debate on what type of rice to use. The only thing I didn’t go with in her recipe is the artichokes she adds, since although me n DH love them, our guests do not, another time, another paella. It’s all good.

It’s important to understand that paella, which is a filling all in one pot dish is NOT a risotto rice dish and you mustn’t use arborio/risotto rice here. It’s not supposed to be creamy but rather drier in texture. That is to say, not dry, it should be moist and flavorful but not creamy. No no no. Okay.

So, chop up your onion and sautee in the olive oil (preferred oil for this dish) and when it gets medium yellow, throw in the chopped garlic and sautee briefly till garlic is fragrant (garlic can burn easily so be prepared. If you step away from the pan, take it off the fire, really)

Next put in the red pepper and sautee a bit. Then take the prepared chicken

and cut pargiot into chunks.

Take the chicken breasts and sautee on both sides till a nice golden color. Then add the pargiot chunks and cook on both sides just till they turn golden. Then take your package of chorizos and cut into chunks. Add to the frying pan and stir them in.

By now you should be drooling from the scent, careful not into the pan 😉 . Now add the tomato passata, white wine, chicken broth/stock, saffron (if you can’t get any, turmeric ain’t as good but will do) , bay leaf if you like, peas, rice and salt. Now comes the stirring part. It’s not like risotto where your arm feels like it’s gonna drop off, you stir for awhile and then let cook for about 15 minutes on its own. Keep an eye, and stir from time to time to make sure the rice doesn’t stick and burn. I’m gonna show a few pics of the cooking process.

As you can see, it’s coming along nicely.

Now I did something not to be done, don’t tell Estrella, but as it was burbling along, I tasted it to see if the rice was really properly cooked. Er, um. no. So, I covered the pan, shhhh don’t tell her. For the last 8-10 minutes I covered it and lo and behold, it finished absorbing all the liquid beautifully and the rice was perfect. So I don’t feel guilty at all just don’t want her to smack me one. This is untraditional but it worked. I hear Estrella laughing all the way over here. Sprinkle the top with the chopped parsley.

Don’t waste this fabulous meal on anyone but people who will properly appreciate it. If you have a paella pan (no I do not) you can serve at the table gorgeously from the pan. If like me you have a nice big pan, spoon onto a beautiful platter and serve with a spoon, you don’t want to miss a grain of rice.

Estrella’s Paella

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
3  teaspoons chopped garlic
1 red pepper , chopped
4 large boneless skinless chicken thighs/pargiot cut into chunks
1 whole chicken breast with skin, divided in half
1 package of chorizo sausages (I used mild since that’s our preference) 400 grams about 14 ounces
1/2-3/4 cup dry white wine 
3 3/4 cups chicken broth/stock homemade or bought OR if you don’t have either a rounded tablespoon of chicken soup powder dissolved in 3 3/4 cups of boiling water
1 cup tomato passata or puree
a pinch, a couple of threads or one of those tiny sachets of saffron, dissolve in the stock
1 bay leaf (optional)
1 cup peas, frozen is fine
2 cups jasmine or other medium grain rice
Salt
1/3 cup loosely packed parsley, chopped

In the oil in a pan large enough to hold all the ingredients, sautee the onion till medium yellow and add the garlic, cooking till fragrant about a minute or so. Add the chopped pepper and sautee a bit more. Add the chicken breasts and sautee till golden on both sides and then add the chunked pargiot (chicken thighs) and cook on both sides briefly. Add the chorizos and stir. Pour in the wine, chicken stock, passata (tomato puree) bay leaf, peas, rice and salt. Stir well and let cook about 5 minutes and stir well, making sure the rice doesn’t stick. Continue cooking about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time, and check to see if rice is tender. If not, cheat like me and cover pan for 8-10 minutes or till rice is fully cooked and liquid 99% absorbed. Serve on a beautiful platter with the chopped parsley sprinkled on top. Enjoy with a very well chilled glass of white wine.

**Estrella’s Original Recipe

2 cups long grain rice like uncle Ben
I cup frozen petite pois peas
I red bell pepper cut up in small pieces
I large onion chopped up very small
2 crushed cloves of garlic
1 bay leaf
Big handful chopped fresh parsley
1 cup tomato passatta
1 tin artichoke hearts
Cut up
1 tablespoon parev soup powder
1 sachet saffron or a few saffron threads in some hot water for colour
1/2 teaspoon Salt (u can add more later if u want )
2 tins tuna in oil drained/ or chicken