Saffron Rice with Chicken & Chorizo

 

Inspired by the Spanish paella, this saffron rice dish is cooked in a heavy-based wide casserole pan which conveniently goes from your stovetop to the table with minimal washing up afterwards.  If you haven't got one of these pans, a large lidded frying pan will also do the job.  I use basmati rice because it cooks quickly without becoming starchy, perfect with mouthfuls of tender slices of chicken, smoky chorizo and vegetables.  Be generous with the saffron to infuse the rice with its earthy-sweet flavour and to give it a golden hue. There is an art in cooking basmati rice by the absorption method as in this instance, to be mastered by experience, but you should be good following my instructions.  You can see in the photo above that the cooked rice looks tender, not sticky or mushy. This is a tasty, festive-looking dish, guaranteed to cheer you and your family up on a cold winter evening or any evening.  Serve with a green salad.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 chorizo sausage, thinly sliced
• 200g / 7oz chicken breast, sliced
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 medium-size onion, finely chopped
• 2 gloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 medium-size red capsicum, cut into strips
• 1 cup basmati rice
• a generous pinch of saffron 
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnishing

METHOD

1. Heat oil in the casserole pan over medium.  Add chorizo slices and let them brown on one side, then the other while rendering their fat.  Push them to one side of the pan and add the chicken slices and the smoked paprika.  Fry the chicken on one side, then the other until slightly brown.  They don't have to be fully cooked at this stage.  Remove chorizo and chicken and set them aside.
2. With the residual oil in the pan, sauté onions over medium heat for 2 minutes, or until soften.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Add the chopped tomatoes, then the capsicum strips.  Continue to sauté until the vegetables have soften.
3. Add the rice and the saffron and mix them well with the vegetables.
4. Stir in the chicken stock.  Bring it to a boil.  Let it cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and little craters appear on surface of rice.  Reduce heat to low.  Transfer the chorizo and chicken slices back to the pan and spread them out evenly on top of the rice.  Cover the pan and simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat and let the rice rest for 10 minutes.  Fluff up the rice with a wooden spoon.  Garnish with chopped parsley.