What can I say? Paella is loved by all in our family and with Mum’s magic touch, I usually manage to keep it quite healthy, as long as I leave out the chorizo!
Straight up I am going to be honest and say that I love chorizo in Paella though. This certainly means much higher fat content and much more sodium. This recipe is not high in calories (550 Kcal approximately) but because I have added chorizo, it is definitely not as healthy as it could be. If you are working hard at reducing your sodium intake, then ditch the chorizo please!
Moving right along from my chorizo eating confession (Shhhh!) I like to use a brown/ wholegrain rice in any recipe that I cook, but you can choose whichever rice you prefer. Arborio works well in Paella, but I use whatever is in the cupboard, which is usually a brown, long grain, basmati rice. The great part about cooking Paella is that you only use one pot/ pan so there is much less washing up, and is such a versatile dish that you can add just about any meat or vegetable that you have available. I like to spice mine up with some chilli too.
And can you eat Paella without seafood? I know that I can’t. I will often jam in clams, prawns, squid, fish and anything else I can get my hands on, but today I just used prawns because they were big and fresh. Anyhow, Paella is such an easy recipe to cook so let’s get to it!
Ingredients
| 200.00 | g | Rice, brown, raw |
| 150.00 | g | Onion, mature, brown skinned, peeled, raw |
| 125.00 | g | Chorizo (C) |
| 200.00 | g | Chicken, breast, lean, raw |
| 250.00 | g | Prawn, king (large size), raw (green) |
| 1.00 | L | Stock, chicken, liquid, commercial |
| 5.00 | ml | Oil, olive, pure |
| 400.00 | g | Tomato puree, no added salt |
| 100.00 | g | Pea, green, purchased frozen, boiled, no added salt, drained |
Method
- Slice the onion and gently brown in a non-stick pan with a spray of olive oil. Remove the onion and add diced chicken to the pan. Cook until golden brown.
- Add the onion back to the pan, along with the sliced chorizo. Gently fry the chorizo. If you want to add chilli, now is your chance to do so. Add the uncooked rice, chicken stock and tomato puree and bring to the boil.
- Once boiling, turn the stove down to a simmer and cover the pan until the rice is cooked.
- Add the prawns and the frozen peas in the last 5 minutes. Once the prawns are cooked through, the Paella is ready to serve. Yum!
Nutrition Information per serve
| Nutrient | Qty per serve |
| Energy (kJ) | 2210 |
| Protein (g) | 39.9 |
| Fat, Total (g) | 17.3 |
| Fat, Saturated (g) | 6.0 |
| Carbohydrate (g) | 49.9 |
| Sugars (g) | 7.4 |
| Sodium (mg) | 1840 |