Low FODMAP Paella
✅Traditional ✅Delicious ✅One Pot Meal ✅Weeknight Wonder ✅Looks Fancy
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Wide/shallow pan measuring approximately 30cm across
Ingredients
*notes for low FODMAPPERS
- 1 ½ litres chicken or vegetable stock, *labelled low FODMAP (note)
- BIG pinch saffron strands
- 400 g chicken thighs, 3-4, skinless and boneless
- 430 g short grain rice, such as bomba or arborio
- 1 red capsicum/bell pepper, *no more than 170g prepped weight (note)
- Large handful green beans, about 150g
- 2 tomatoes, *no more than 250g total weight
- olive oil
- Large handful fresh parsley leaves
To Serve:
- lemon wedges
Instructions
Prep Ingredients
- Saffron Stock – make up the stock with hot water and set aside. Preheat a small dry frying pan over low-medium heat. Add the saffron threads. Toast the saffron for about 30 seconds, until darkened and fragrant. Be careful not to let it burn. Tip the strands into the hot stock and stir through. Set aside.BIG pinch saffron strands1 ½ litres chicken or vegetable stock, *labelled low FODMAP (note)
- Chop Chicken – trim away any excess fat and cut into bite-size pieces. Set aside.400 g chicken thighs, 3-4, skinless and boneless
- Weigh Rice – have rice weighed out, ready to pour into the pan. No need to rinse.430 g short grain rice, such as bomba or arborio
- Prep Capsicum/Pepper & Beans – De-seed the capsicum and cut into long strips. Trim the stalks (non-pointy ends) of the beans (but leave whole).1 red capsicum/bell pepper, *no more than 170g prepped weight (note)Large handful green beans, about 150g
- Grate Tomatoes – halve horizontally. Lay a box grater flat on a board with the largest holes uppermost. Use the flattened palm of your hand to ‘grate’ the cut edge of one tomato half. You’ll end up with tomato pulp inside the grater (tip out into a bowl) and the skin of the tomato left under your hand (discard). Repeat with the remaining tomato halves.2 tomatoes, *no more than 250g total weight
Make the Paella
- Brown Chicken – preheat the dry paella pan over high heat. Add two tablespoons of oil. Swirl this around the base of the pan. Carefully tip in and distribute the chicken pieces. Brown these well. Don’t worry about cooking them all the way through at this stage. Remove the chicken to a bowl once browned all over. DON’T clean the pan. We can incorporate all the stuck-on chicken bits later.olive oil
- Sauté Capsicum & Beans - reduce the heat; there will be a lot of residual heat in the pan. Add the capsicum/pepper and green beans. Toss them around and allow to scorch slightly. This will take a couple of minutes. Add a touch more oil if you need to. Remove the veg and set them aside.
- Fry Tomato Pulp - turn the heat back up to high. Add another 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Carefully add the tomatoes, which will hiss and spit. Use a flat-ended spatula to scrape any stuck-on chicken bits and incorporate these. Cook, stirring frequently, until the water has evaporated, around 5 minutes. The tomato will transform to a darker thick paste which will start to catch at the bottom of the pan. Keep it on the move.olive oil
- Toast Rice - add all the rice in one go and stir through thoroughly to coat and toast the grains, about 1 minute.
- Add Stock – pour in all the hot saffron-infused stock. Use the handle of an item of cutlery or fat end of a chopstick to wiggle grid lines across and then down the pan to evenly distribute the grains. These will be under the surface of the stock. We can’t see them, so have to feel our way. Do this quickly then commit to no more stirring.
- Veg & Chicken - lay the capsicum and green beans on the top, radiating from the centre of pan outwards. The stock will bubble furiously, so these will move; do the best you can. Sprinkle the chicken pieces evenly over the top of the rice. Pour in any chicken juices from the resting meat.
- Cook Rice – lower the heat to medium and continue to simmer until most of the stock has evaporated or been absorbed by the rice. The rice grains just under the surface should be softened but still have some bite. Position your pan evenly over the heat so that you can see simmering all the way around the pan. This will take about 15-20 minutes.
- Socarrat – when the rice is no longer until a layer of liquid and there is only some liquid bubbling through gaps, dot about 8 little holes around the paella with the handle of a wooden spoon or fat end of a chopstick. Fill these with a little olive oil. Turn the heat up to medium high. Cook until you can hear that the bottom of the pan is sizzling and dry. Be attentive to any crackling sounds and slightly scorched smells.olive oil
- Rest - turn the heat off and remove the pan from the heat. Cover the pan lightly with a clean cloth or foil for 5-10 minutes to keep it warm. This resting time allows the remaining liquid to be absorbed by the rice. It also helps the soccarat at the bottom to set slightly, making it easier to serve.Large handful fresh parsley leaves
- Serve - sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley. Make sure everyone gets some socarrat when you’re dishing up! Dig in to get a big spoon’s worth then tip it upside-down on the plate so that the socarrat is revealed. Serve with plenty of freshly squeezed lemon juice.lemon wedges
Notes
If you're using Vegetable Stock Paste, you'll need 3 Tablespoons in 1 ½ litres of water to make the 1 ½ litres of stock needed.
The capsicum/pepper skin will naturally start to peel away as it cooks. You can pull these off and discard before serving. If that sounds too fiddly (and the skin bothers you), you can use some bottled ones. Bottled capsicums have already been cooked and peeled. These are quite readily available in supermarkets. Use about 170g (drained weight), cut into strips. No need to sauté the capsicum with the green beans in step 2 of 'Make the Paella). Add them to the pan along with the green beans in step 6.