If you’ve ever been to Spain, you know that paella is the national dish.
I’ve not been in Spain in many years, but I do remember living off a strict diet of every possible paella dish I could find.
Paella is a typical Spanish recipe and is traditionally cooked in a “paellera” – a round flat pan with two handles – which is then put on the table. In many Spanish villages, especially in coastal areas, the locals use a giant paellera pan to cook paella on festival days so there is plenty of food to everyone attending the festivals.
Simply put, paella is a rice dish that contains shrimp, clams or mussels, chicken (some recipes call for rabbit, but I’ve only had it with chicken because I don’t eat rabbit), peppers, rice, green peas and dried chorizo sausages (my favourite sausages). The magic spice is saffron which is one of the most expensive spices on the market and this is also the spice that gives paella its rich yellow colour.
Since Spaniards are creative people, there have been some pretty interesting paella recipes in recent years like these:
* Vegetarian paella: Since there are so many peppers (go nuts with red, green, orange and yellow), onions and peas with the rice, you can easily omit the chicken and seafood and turn this into a vegetarian dish.
* Black rice paella (arroz negro): Black rice (which turns a deep purple colour when cooked) is used in some parts of Spain as a spin off to the traditional white rice used in most paella recipes.
* Fish paella: Some regions of Spain will add monkfish in the paella recipe.
* Mushroom paella: This is another great vegetarian version for those who don’t eat meat or if you’re looking to try something new. You basically would use a variety of mushrooms. I’ll be honest, I found this type of paella sounded quite a lot like a mushroom risotto.
>>> Let’s talk about the chorizo sausages you use in a paella:
I’ll share a few paella recipes with you, but before I do, I want talk about the chorizo sausage.
It’s not an easy feat to find Spanish chorizo sausages in North America. When I used to live on the west coast, I’d make my way to the Portuguese neighbourhoods to locate dried sausage and since moving back to the east coast, I’ve not been all that lucky until I discovered the Palacios dried chorizo that are easily found in North America.
The great thing about the Palacios chorizo sausages is the fact that they are 100 per cent natural and contain no additives, no colouring, no preservatives.
The Palacios sausages have been produced for over 40 years (since the 60s) with the same care and attention to quality and still today it’s family owned and they use a family secret recipe to make their chorizo sausages.
>>> So aren’t sausages supposed to be fattening?
Well, yes, if you intend on eating 20 lbs of sausages in a sitting, then chorizo sausages will surely make you fat. The point here is to eat like Spaniards. You’ll be cutting up sausages in your dish and it will either serve a number of people so you’ll have a few bites of the sausage. Also, if you look at the list of ingredients of Palacios sausages you notice there is nothing that your body will not recognize. All the ingredients in the Palacios sausages are natural and if you eat them in moderation … you should have no issues and you should not worry about getting fat from eating good quality sausages.
>>> How I like my chorizo
I do eat the chorizo dry, but I’ll have to admit that I like my chorizo slightly sautéed. The great thing with the Palacios sausages is that I was able to choose between the mild and hot variety. They both taste great as is straight out of the packet, but they also taste amazing slightly sautéed!
>>> A paella recipe from Food TV:
There are hundreds of paella recipes out there. I picked this one as a guide for anyone who has never made paella and wants to try it: Paella recipe from Food TV
>>>> Here is a video recipe/preparation of a paella:
>>> So aren’t sausages supposed to be fattening?
Well, yes, if you intend on eating 20 lbs of sausages in a sitting, then chorizo sausages will surely make you fat. The point here is to eat like Spaniards. You’ll be cutting up sausages in your dish and it will either serve a number of people so you’ll have a few bites of the sausage. Also, if you look at the list of ingredients of Palacios sausages you notice there is nothing that your body will not recognize. All the ingredients in the Palacios sausages are natural and if you eat them in moderation … you should have no issues and you should not worry about getting fat from eating good quality sausages.
>>> How I like my chorizo
I do eat the chorizo dry, but I’ll have to admit that I like my chorizo slightly sautéed. The great thing with the Palacios sausages is that I was able to choose between the mild and hot variety. They both taste great as is straight out of the packet, but they also taste amazing slightly sautéed!
>>> A paella recipe from Food TV:
There are hundreds of paella recipes out there. I picked this one as a guide for anyone who has never made paella and wants to try it: Paella recipe from Food TV
>>>> Here is a video recipe/preparation of a paella:
If you’ve ever been to Spain, you know that paella is the national dish.
I’ve not been in Spain in many years, but I do remember living off a strict diet of every possible paella dish I could find.
Paella is a typical Spanish recipe and is traditionally cooked in a “paellera” – a round flat pan with two handles – which is then put on the table. In many Spanish villages, especially in coastal areas, the locals use a giant paellera pan to cook paella on festival days so there is plenty of food to everyone attending the festivals.
Simply put, paella is a rice dish that contains shrimp, clams or mussels, chicken (some recipes call for rabbit, but I’ve only had it with chicken because I don’t eat rabbit), peppers, rice, green peas and dried chorizo sausages (my favourite sausages). The magic spice is saffron which is one of the most expensive spices on the market and this is also the spice that gives paella its rich yellow colour.
Since Spaniards are creative people, there have been some pretty interesting paella recipes in recent years like these:
* Vegetarian paella: Since there are so many peppers (go nuts with red, green, orange and yellow), onions and peas with the rice, you can easily omit the chicken and seafood and turn this into a vegetarian dish.
* Black rice paella (arroz negro): Black rice (which turns a deep purple colour when cooked) is used in some parts of Spain as a spin off to the traditional white rice used in most paella recipes.
* Fish paella: Some regions of Spain will add monkfish in the paella recipe.
* Mushroom paella: This is another great vegetarian version for those who don’t eat meat or if you’re looking to try something new. You basically would use a variety of mushrooms. I’ll be honest, I found this type of paella sounded quite a lot like a mushroom risotto.
>>> Let’s talk about the chorizo sausages you use in a paella:
I’ll share a few paella recipes with you, but before I do, I want talk about the chorizo sausage.
It’s not an easy feat to find Spanish chorizo sausages in North America. When I used to live on the west coast, I’d make my way to the Portuguese neighbourhoods to locate dried sausage and since moving back to the east coast, I’ve not been all that lucky until I discovered the Palacios dried chorizo that are easily found in North America.
The great thing about the Palacios chorizo sausages is the fact that they are 100 per cent natural and contain no additives, no colouring, no preservatives.
The Palacios sausages have been produced for over 40 years (since the 60s) with the same care and attention to quality and still today it’s family owned and they use a family secret recipe to make their chorizo sausages.
>>> So aren’t sausages supposed to be fattening?
Well, yes, if you intend on eating 20 lbs of sausages in a sitting, then chorizo sausages will surely make you fat. The point here is to eat like Spaniards. You’ll be cutting up sausages in your dish and it will either serve a number of people so you’ll have a few bites of the sausage. Also, if you look at the list of ingredients of Palacios sausages you notice there is nothing that your body will not recognize. All the ingredients in the Palacios sausages are natural and if you eat them in moderation … you should have no issues and you should not worry about getting fat from eating good quality sausages.
>>> How I like my chorizo
I do eat the chorizo dry, but I’ll have to admit that I like my chorizo slightly sautéed. The great thing with the Palacios sausages is that I was able to choose between the mild and hot variety. They both taste great as is straight out of the packet, but they also taste amazing slightly sautéed!
>>> A paella recipe from Food TV:
There are hundreds of paella recipes out there. I picked this one as a guide for anyone who has never made paella and wants to try it: Paella recipe from Food TV
>>>> Here is a video recipe/preparation of a paella:
>>> So aren’t sausages supposed to be fattening?
Well, yes, if you intend on eating 20 lbs of sausages in a sitting, then chorizo sausages will surely make you fat. The point here is to eat like Spaniards. You’ll be cutting up sausages in your dish and it will either serve a number of people so you’ll have a few bites of the sausage. Also, if you look at the list of ingredients of Palacios sausages you notice there is nothing that your body will not recognize. All the ingredients in the Palacios sausages are natural and if you eat them in moderation … you should have no issues and you should not worry about getting fat from eating good quality sausages.
>>> How I like my chorizo
I do eat the chorizo dry, but I’ll have to admit that I like my chorizo slightly sautéed. The great thing with the Palacios sausages is that I was able to choose between the mild and hot variety. They both taste great as is straight out of the packet, but they also taste amazing slightly sautéed!
>>> A paella recipe from Food TV:
There are hundreds of paella recipes out there. I picked this one as a guide for anyone who has never made paella and wants to try it: Paella recipe from Food TV
>>>> Here is a video recipe/preparation of a paella: