Easy Recipe: Quick, Simplified Paella

Hello again! Ready to go back to the kitchen? Today I'd like to share the recipe of a simplified version of one of my favourite dishes ever: Spanish Paella! A million different versions are available online, but the original recipes are pretty long and a bit complicated to prepare, not to mention a bit expensive (they require saffron, which is not really the cheapest or easiest to find ingredient on earth). We're opting then for an easier version of this famous plate, and also cheat in finding another way to give the rice its typical yellow color without using saffron.... ready? Let's start!

Ingredients for 2 people

1 cup of rice

1 red pepper

½ white onion

2 chicken breasts

vegetable broth

1 teaspoon of turmeric

1 cup of shrimps

½ cup of frozen peas

salt to season

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 can chopped tomatoes

I feel like needing to clarify that I am not proposing an original recipe, this is my personal variation to it, and I apologise if my modifications offend all paella puritan out there! Please don't be upset XD And actually, if you have any tips to make this better, please share them with us!

So, in preparing this easier, quicker version of paella I usually proceed in this way: after having heated the olive oil in a pan, I am cooking the chicken breasts, cut in bite pieces. When the chicken is cooked, in the same pan I am cooking the onion and the red pepper cut in small pieces, and I'm leaving them frying a bit, before adding the chopped tomatoes, the salt, and then the rice. At this point, I am adding the turmeric, which is going to give the rice the typical yellow color, without using any saffron. The taste will be different from saffron of course, but I still really love it!

I'm letting the rice toast slightly before adding the vegetable broth, to completely cover the rice. From this moment on, I am not touching the rice at all.

I am letting the rice cook at medium/low for as long as it needs (15 mins roughly), adding more vegetable broth if I feel like needing to. After 10/12 minutes, I am adding on the top of the rice the shrimps and the frozen peas, and I'm letting them all cook, leaving a lid on the pan.

After both the shrimps and the peas are cooked, its time to try the rice, and decide if it needs to cook more, or it is ready. The rice is basically perfect when you take it out with the spoon and it is kind of browned on the bottom.

Time to share your paella in two plates, and enjoy your food!

Let me know if you're trying it out and what you think about it! Again, if you have any tip to improve the recipe, or if I'm doing something wrong, please let me know, I'm open to feedback!

Lots of love,

M.