For many, paella instantly evokes the warmth of summer, but its reputation as a complex dish often deters home cooks. Now, celebrated French chef Norbert Tarayre is demystifying this Spanish classic, unveiling his “express” and entirely homemade version designed to bring sunshine to your plate, even as autumn approaches.
Tarayre, known for making sophisticated cuisine accessible, introduces a modern take on paella, arguably Spain’s most famous dish. While traditional recipes often feature chicken and rabbit, his version embraces contemporary ingredients like mussels, prawns, bell peppers, and chorizo, promising a burst of Mediterranean flavour. This recipe aims to prolong the summer feeling long after the season ends, leveraging fresh produce still available in markets or even pantry staples.
True to his philosophy of user-friendly and anti-waste cooking, Chef Tarayre’s express paella prioritizes efficiency without compromising on flavour. A key element is his homemade broth, crafted by simmering vegetable trimmings, chicken bones, and shrimp shells in water. This simple infusion, requiring just 20 to 30 minutes, forms the flavourful base for cooking the rice and other ingredients. While a longer simmer would intensify the taste, Tarayre assures that a shorter infusion is perfectly adequate for his quick method.
The art of this express paella lies in precisely managing the cooking times of each component, as everything is cooked together. Tarayre specifies that the rice will take approximately 20 minutes to cook. Chicken pieces require about 5 minutes to brown and another 10 minutes to cook through, while mussels need 6-8 minutes depending on their size. Chorizo and prawns, he advises, only need a few minutes at the end. The chef demonstrates how to achieve this vibrant dish using just two pans and within a relatively short timeframe.
**Ingredients:**
* 1 whole yellow chicken
* 1 entire strong chorizo sausage
* 300g prawns (shrimp)
* 500g mussels
* 2 red bell peppers
* 2 yellow bell peppers
* 2 onions
* 250g crushed tomatoes
* 4 cloves garlic
* Saffron powder
* Paella spices
* 500g round-grain rice
* Olive oil
* Salt, pepper
* 1.2 litres broth (homemade or quality store-bought)
**Method:**
1. **Prepare Chicken & Broth Base:** Joint the chicken, removing wings and thighs, and saving the delicate “oyster cuts.” Cut the chicken breasts (suprêmes) in half and break the thigh bones. Place the chicken carcass and wing tips into a large saucepan along with any other chicken trimmings.
2. **Prepare Vegetables & Chorizo:** Deseed the bell peppers and cut them into regular pieces. Peel one onion and chop it roughly. Slice the chorizo. If desired, peel the prawns.
3. **Simmer Broth:** Pour approximately 1.5 litres of water into a separate pot (about 1.5 times the volume of rice) and bring to a simmer. As you prepare your ingredients, add the pepper trimmings, onion scraps, chorizo ends, prawn heads and shells, and two unpeeled garlic cloves (cut into thirds or quarters) to the simmering water. Season with paella spices and two tablespoons of crushed tomatoes. Allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes to create your aromatic broth.
4. **Brown Chicken & Sauté Vegetables:** Heat a generous drizzle of olive oil in a large sauté pan. Brown all sides of the chicken pieces, then remove the chicken breasts as they cook faster. Add the bell peppers, onions, and the remaining crushed garlic to the pan, adding more olive oil if needed. Sauté briefly until softened.
5. **Toast Rice & Build Flavour:** Add the rice to the pan with the vegetables and mix well, stirring until the grains become translucent. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and cook for a few more moments.
6. **Season & Simmer:** Season with salt, pepper, paella spices, and saffron. Strain your prepared broth directly into the pan, ensuring no solids enter. Let it simmer gently for 3 to 4 minutes.
7. **Add Remaining Ingredients:** Return the chicken breasts to the pan. After a few more minutes, add the mussels, then the chorizo, and finally the prawns.
8. **Final Cook & Rest:** Cover the pan and let the paella simmer undisturbed. This allows the rice to slightly crisp at the bottom, creating the desirable *socarrat*.
9. **Serve:** Let the paella rest off the heat or on a very low heat for an hour before serving to allow the flavours to meld and the rice to fully absorb the liquid.
