Dinner with Rukmini
Browse all of the recipes in Rukmini Iyer’s cookbooks by ingredient.
All-in-one Paella with Chicken, Peppers and Chorizo
In this all-in-one chicken paella recipe, the whole dish is cooked in the oven for a stress-free fast track to your favourite Spanish meal.
From the book
The Roasting Tin Around The World
Easy one-dish dinners inspired by flavours from around the world
Leave the hard work to the oven with minimal prep and less washing up
From easy midweek dinners to simple bakes and desserts
Introduction
Inspired by oven-cook risottos, I give you this oven-cooked paella – no stirring, just beautifully cooked saffron rice, rich with chorizo, chicken and garlic. While it’s celebratory enough to serve to friends, I’d happily eat leftovers for the rest of the week’s lunches or dinners – the flavour only improves overnight in the fridge.
Ingredients
| 1 | red onion, roughly chopped |
| 2 | red peppers, thinly sliced |
| 2 | cloves of garlic, grated |
| 6 | free-range skinless, boneless chicken thighs |
| 150g | firm chorizo, thickly sliced into 1cm coins |
| 2 tbsp | olive oil |
| 4 | generous pinches of good saffron (I like Belazu) |
| 250g | paella rice |
| 600ml | hot chicken stock |
| 1 | lemon, juice only |
| sea salt flakes, to taste | |
| To serve: | |
| chopped flat-leaf parsley | |
| 1 | lemon, cut into wedges |
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6.
Tip the onion, peppers, garlic, chicken thighs, chorizo and olive oil into a roasting tin or a flat lidded casserole dish large enough to hold everything in roughly one layer (it’s OK if there’s a bit of overlap). Transfer to the oven and roast for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, pop the saffron strands into a mug with a couple of tablespoons of boiling water, and set aside.
Once the chicken and peppers have had 25 minutes, remove the tin from the oven and stir through the paella rice, hot chicken stock, and steeped saffron along with the saffron water. Cover tightly with foil or the lid (this is important so the rice cooks), then return the dish to the oven at 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4 for a further hour, until the rice is cooked through.
Once the paella is cooked, add a dash more hot chicken stock or boiling water to adjust the texture as you wish, squeeze over the lemon juice, taste and adjust the salt as needed, then serve hot, scattered with parsley and lemon wedges alongside.
Note: You could freeze this in portions if making ahead.
