Warming and spicy, this rice based dish is just what you need whenever you wish you were sitting on a sunny beach. Using succulent King Prawns and the gentle heat of Spicy chorizo, melded with tomatoes, chilli and bell peppers this will bring a sense of sunshine into the coldest, darkest days.

Ingredients

• Paella Rice
• Frozen RAW king prawns (they should be grey when you buy them)
• Half a small ring of chorizo, with the papery skin removed and cut into chunks
• A splash of olive oil
• 1/4 of a red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
• A couple of bell peppers. I normally use green or yellow for colour but it doesn’t really matter. Deseeded and sliced thinly
• A red onion, peeled and finely chopped. If you like you could use two smaller ones or one larger one.
• A couple of cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed. If you don’t have a garlic crusher you can finely grate it instead
• A sprinkling of hot paprika
• A stock pot (I use either chicken or a smoked chilli and paprika one)
• A jar of passata with either garlic or herbs (or plain)
• Salt and Freshly ground black pepper to taste.

 Method

In a big pan (I use my wok but a big, deep pan will be just fine) add a little olive oil, the onion and the chorizo. Use a medium heat and keep stirring the onion and chorizo until the onion has gone lovely and soft. If it starts to burn turn the heat down. We’re waking up the flavours here so it needs to be done gently.

Once the onion is soft and the chorizo is looking crispy enough, gently reduce the heat and add the paella rice. Most packets of rice have the portion sizes on them these days, so use that as a guide as to how much you need.

Stir continuously until the rice has a lovely coating of the oil and chorizo. Add the passatta bit by bit stirring all the time and then throw in the garlic, the stock pot, the peppers, paprika, chilli if using and the peppers. 

Give everything a good stir. Use a lowish heat and keep giving it a gentle stir every so often so it doesn’t stick. Eventually the rice will fluff up and most of the liquid will be absorbed. If at any point it looks like it needs more liquid add a little extra hot water and give it a stir.

Throw in the raw prawns and cook until they look done. They will go pink and may shrink a little.

Once everything is looking nice and cooked (and you’ve checked that the prawns are thoroughly cooked) serve in bowls with a big green salad or with peas. Always check seasoning and adjust if necessary by adding a little freshly ground black pepper (or ground mixed peppercorns)