Crispy Chicken Skin Paella
Description
- 600g free-range chicken thighs and drumsticks, skin on and bone in
- 1 onion, finely chopped (reserve the skin and root)
- ¼ bunch parsley, leaves and stalks separated and roughly chopped
- Dash olive oil
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- ½ red chilli, finely sliced
- 80g chorizo, sliced (optional, see Know How)
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 150ml white wine
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Pinch saffron
- 250g paella rice (we used bomba)
- 300g mixed sustainable seafood, such as prawns, squid, mussels, clams and/or scallops
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
- Heat the oven to 160°C fan/gas 4. Remove the skin from the chicken pieces with a small sharp knife, then remove any particularly fatty bits by scraping the undersides of the skins with the blade. Lay the pieces of skin flat on a tray in a single layer and cook in the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden and crisp. Be careful not to let them get too dark in colour as they will turn bitter. Sprinkle with salt and set aside to cool.
- Cut as much meat from the chicken bones as you can, then set the meat aside and put the bones in a large saucepan. Pour in 1 litre water, the onion skin and root, the parsley stalks and any other bits of veg trim you have in the fridge to make a quick stock. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer while you cook the paella.
- Roughly chop the chicken meat into bite-size pieces. Put a wide, deep frying pan (or paella pan, if you have one) over a medium heat and add a dash of oil. Once hot, add the chicken, season well, then cook for a few minutes until browned all over. Remove from the heat.
- Finely chop the peeled onion, then add it into the same pan along with the chorizo, garlic, chilli and pepper. Add another pinch of salt and cook for 5 minutes until softened, then return the chicken to the pan (along with any juices it has released). Stir in the tomatoes, white wine, paprika and saffron and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
- Add the rice to the pan and stir well to ensure each grain is coated and glossy, then strain the hot stock through a fine sieve into the pan. Leave to simmer gently for 25 minutes uncovered and untouched.
- Nestle your mixed seafood on top of the rice, then cover and cook for a further 5 minutes. By this time all the liquid should have been absorbed and the grains at the bottom of the pan should have crisped up and darkened.
- Remove the pan from the heat and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving topped with the crispy chicken skin, chopped parsley leaves and lemon wedges.
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