If you can’t get enough of the vibrant Spanish flavours, take a look at our Spanish Baked Chicken Thighs and Potatoes for a delicious one pan meal.
Spanish Recipes
Spanish sun is bold and intense but the sea is warm and friendly. The waves are so tame and playful that all I wanted to do was bob along the natural flow of the Mediterranean sea for hours and simply enjoy being. Those are the memories from one of my trips to Spain to visit my childhood friend and her family. Whenever I go abroad I feel like I need to recreate the food from that place as soon as I get home. This recipe for Spanish rice with chicken and shrimp is my take on the famous paella from the Valencia region, where we usually go for our summer holidays. My love for Spanish food is deep and often comes out in recipes inspired by the its cuisine. They are not always authentic but they 100% delicious! These loaded potato skins with chorizo and Bravas sauce is my nod to the famous Patatas Bravas, that we are absolutely in love with! And my saucy sausage casserole combines the gorgeous Mediterranean flavours of spicy chorizo, artichokes and plump cherry tomatoes. And of course, I would never dare to write about the Spanish cooking and eating traditions without mentioning the tapas. I’ve got you covered if you want to throw a wine and tapas party!
Spanish Rice Recipe
Since conjuring up the Spanish sunshine and beach is pretty much impossible in England at any time of the year, all we’ve got is the food. Thankfully for me, it’s not difficult given that most ingredients are readily available. I love Spanish paella, the plump yellow rice studded with chicken, prawns and mussels! We are so lucky to experience a plethora of versions in various restaurants and friend’s homes. Interestingly enough, the ones made at home are always the most memorable.
Ingredients
While this recipe for Spanish rice is inspired by paella, it is not actually an authentic paella recipe. For starters, the Spaniards would never use chorizo to flavour their famous dish. On my mission to recreate the famous Spanish paella I wanted to make it more accessible to an everyday cook and use the ingredients available to us. In my recipe I used the round, short grain rice used for paella called arroz redonda (round) or bomba. It is often labeled as paella rice in most supermarkets. You can substitute with risotto rice if you can’t find it. Those two are similar but not exactly the same. Avoid basmati or jasmine rice for this recipe. To flavour the rice I relied on the onions, garlic, chopped cured chorizo (Spanish chorizo, not Mexica) but most importantly I used saffron for that immediately recognizable colour and taste!
Is saffron essential to this dish?
Historically it was widely used in many European countries for cooking and baking. Saffron is still very popular in the Middle East. A very few threads of saffron add a unique flavour that could not be duplicated but my favourite part is they colour an entire dish bright yellow. If you don’t know what to do with the leftover saffron you will have after making this Spanish rice, use it in another delicious recipe for Tuscan Chicken with Saffron Cream Sauce. That being said, a yellow food colour is used by many, many Spanish people to avoid the expense. So yes, you can omit saffron.
Serving Suggestions
My whole family and especially my kids ADORE this dish. They request it often as it has a true comfort food quality without being heavy. It is also so very beautiful! I usually serve it with a bottle of Spanish red wine for the adults as well as some crusty bread and a simple salad. Dinner is done!
More One Pan Recipes
Rosemary Lemon Chicken and Potatoes Orecchiette Pasta with Chorizo Sausage and Roasted Butternut Squash Indonesian Chicken and Rice with Green Beans Chicken and Yellow Rice
