| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 40 min |
| Prep: | 45 min |
| Cook: | 55 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 pound hot or sweet sausage links
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 healthy pinches saffron threads
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into large pieces
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup orzo pasta or broken bits of thin spaghetti
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 large fresh bay leaf
- 1 1/4 cups white rice
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 pound large peeled and deveined shrimp or scrubbed mussels or a combination
- 1 large ripe tomato, seeded and diced, or 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained well
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn or shredded
Instructions
- Put the sausages in a small skillet with 3/4 inches of water. Bring to a boil over medium heat and par-cook the sausages for 7 to 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, warm the stock and saffron in a medium pot over low heat.
- Heat a large heavy pot or deep skillet, over medium-high heat and add the extra-virgin olive oil. When the oil smokes, add the chicken and season liberally with salt and pepper, to taste. Brown the chicken for a couple minutes on each side, then remove it to a plate. Add the par-boiled sausage and crisp up the casings, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the sausages and cut them into large chunks. Add the butter to the pot and let it melt.
- Add the pasta to the melted butter and let it toast for a couple minutes, then add the onions and garlic. Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste, then add the bay leaf and stir for 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the rice and stir to combine, then deglaze the pot with the white wine, stirring for 30 seconds. Put the chicken and sausages back into the pot, pour in the saffron stock and stir.
- Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the seafood and tomatoes and cook until the shrimp are opaque, about 3 to 4 minutes more. If using mussels, cook until the mussels are open. Discard any that do not open. Remove the bay and discard. Transfer the paella to a large serving platter, top with basil, and serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 1247 |
| Total Fat | 56 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17 g |
| Carbohydrates | 69 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 7 g |
| Protein | 108 g |
| Cholesterol | 555 mg |
| Sodium | 2079 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 1247 |
| Total Fat | 56 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17 g |
| Carbohydrates | 69 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 7 g |
| Protein | 108 g |
| Cholesterol | 555 mg |
| Sodium | 2079 mg |
Reviews
This is my go to Paella recipe. The flavors are excellent. I add a healthy pinch of saffron. I use sweet Italian sausage and cooked shrimp. I make it ahead then warm it up with the can of tomatoes and cooked shrimp. I do not add mussels.
This was my first time making paella and it turned out great. I didn’t have any wine so I used more chicken broth in its place. I also used turkey sausage, and omitted the pasta and the basil at the end. Will make again but it was a LOT of prep work so not for a school night. Yum yum!
This was a huge success with all 8 of our dinner guests. The variety of flavors and the texture with the orzo was great. It looks so good in the center of the table. We were apprehensive about paella in general, this changed our minds.
So good! I never get tired of it!
Simple, easy, delicious! Followed recipe word for word and it was perfect! I added scallops to the mix as well. Yum!
This recipe was very simple for my first try at paella.
One of her best! And not very difficult! We substituted with New Zealand green mussels. Yum!
I found this recipe and was a bit surprised to find that it was unrated and reviewed. I don’t think American’s are very familiar with Paella and I wasn’t either before I tried this recipe. It was a very fun recipe to prepare and a bit more simple than the others on the site. It still included a few things I was unfamiliar with like par-cooking and deglazing (at least the terms anyways. I was unable to find any saffron, but the recipe still turned out to be fantastic. The chicken came out perfect and the whole thing tastes kind of Cajun. Make sure you pick a really tasty sausage though, because we just used some we had lying around and it didn’t go particularly well with the meal at all. I would recommend a lighter sausage like turkey.