Seafood Paella/Risotto

On Friday night we went to see Carole King on her Living Room Tour... I'm in my 20's and my colleagues said things like "Carole King, isn't she like really old?" or "She's from my generation, i.e. your mum's generation!" And yes she is! I found out that she's 64 but she is still going strong. You see when my Mum was carrying me and when I was a bub, we listened to a lot of Carole King. She still laughs thinking about how I just picked up the music and would sing along. It's funny because so many songs of hers have been covered, eg "Locomotion" isn't Kylie's and do you remember when Martika did "I feel the Earth Move"? Lisa Simpson sang "Jazzman" and everyone's heard favourites like "You've Got a Friend" and "Where You Lead" (the Gilmore Girls theme). I don't care if it was a bit daggy, I loved it and had a great time!

Now, this dish has nothing to do with the concert! I saw a prawn paella recipe of Donna Hay's from one of the Sunday paper magazines and it got my taste buds excited.


Donna Hay's Prawn Paella
6 cups Chicken stock
2 Tbl Olive oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
2 small Red Chillies, sliced
100g Chorizo sausages, sliced
2 cups Aroborio rice
2 cups Chopped tomatoes
2 Tbl Tomato paste
1 cup Dry white wine
18 Banana prawns
1/4 Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 lemon, cut into wedges

1) Heat the stock and bring to a simmer
2) Heat a large pan over medium heat and add the oil, onion, garlic, chilli and chorizo. Cook until onions are soft and chorizo is "golden".

3) Stir in the rice, tomatoes, tomato paste and wine and cook for several minutes.
4) Gradually add in the hot stock, stirring continuously, until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is al dente.
5) Add the prawns and cook for a few more minutes until they are cooked.
6) Serve with a sprinkle of parsley and a lemon wedge.
Serves 6

Notes:
1) I decided to use some squid so only used a dozen prawns and added a squid tube. Make life easier for cook and tasters, and buy shelled and pre-cleaned!
2) I forgot about the chilli but I had some green pepper/capsicum handy so added that in for a bit of colour and added a sprinkle of dried chilli for a bit of kick.
3) It's kind of hard figuring out how many cups of chopped tomatoes are in a can at the supermarket! I just used a 400g can, it seemed about right. (And if you don't make your own stock, a 1 litre packet = 4 cups)
4) There wasn't any lemon at the greengrocers and I haven't visited anyone with a lemon tree lately, but I used lime and it tasted great!
5) I have "risotto" in the title because to bring my stock up to 6 cups, I added water... and then forgot I'd done that and added another 2 cups in. So by the time I wondered why the rice gluggier than paella and I realised what I'd done, well... but it was still really delicious!
6) I know it says serves 6 but by the time 2 people have dinner and seconds, you've only got enough for 2 generous lunches!!