Paella!

I went to Spain for the first time last year and perhaps the most notorious Spanish dish is paella so I decided to give it a try! Traditionally, paella is made with meat/ seafood/vegetables/ beans in a big wide-bottomed pan called a paellera, with the main spice being hot paprika.

As a student on a tight budget I knew that I couldn't afford to put in all the yummy delicacies of a traditional paella so I limited myself to just 3 chicken breasts (defrosted from a big pack of frozen ones), a bit of chorizo and prawns. (Bear in mind that chorizo isn't supposed to go in paella, so if you are making an authentic one, I'd leave that out!) I bulked out the meal with lots of vegetables - courgette, red and green peppers, peas, carrots, runner beans and  I used risotto rice as a substitute for paella rice ( both short grain and I couldn't find any paella rice at my local supermarket.)

And I have to say that the end result was quite nice! I didn't directly follow a recipe, just took inspiration from a few across the internet so do a little research! The short grain rice absorbs quite a lot of water so make sure that you keep an eye on it while cooking (Although I also read that a traditional paella is toasted on the bottom so don't put too much water in!) 

This is perhaps a luxury meal for students because of all of the ingredients, but is very worth it and easy to make in bulk enough for a few days!