Paella

Paella is a bit of a Friday night treat in our house. Usually mid-week suppers consist of something that can be easily prepared in advance with little or no finishing once the kids are in bed. But on a Friday it's nice to eat a bit later, enjoy a nibble on some olives, carrots & reduced fat hummus while I get dinner ready, glass of wine in hand of course. I find on WeightWatchers if I'm really religious during the week, come Friday, I can afford a glass of wine or two along with dinner. I still try to keep to a healthy meal on a Friday (that's 12 ProPoints in my book) but it's usually something that takes a bit longer to prepare.

We are quite traditional in that white wine is largely summer drinking and most definitely when eating fish, and red wine is mostly for the winter and always to accompany red meat. Paella works well with either but a splash of white wine does work particularly well with the stock bringing out more flavour.

My paella uses chicken breast, raw king prawns, lots of red pepper & peas and it wouldn't be Paella without the use of saffron and cayenne pepper! My hubby has an allergy to some seafood but otherwise I would use the bags of frozen mixed seafood containing mussels, squid etc, but use whatever you like to suit your own taste.

You'll need for 2:

• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 2-3 tbsp frozen peas, I use petits pois
• 1 medium chicken breast (165g), chopped
• 50g chorizo
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 150g Paella rice
• 1 big vine tomato or a few cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
• Pinch of saffron
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp smoked paprika or normal paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• Liquid chicken stock concentrate or stock pot
• 1 lemon
• 100g (about half a bag) of raw frozen king prawns, defrosted
• Boiling water from the kettle
• Glug of white wine (optional)
• Seasoning

In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the oil and gently saute the onions and garlic until slightly golden. Turn up the heat slightly and add the chorizo and chicken. Brown all over.

Weigh out the rice into a measuring jug and make a note of where it comes up to. Add the rice to the pan and stir frequently to coat the rice.  Double the volume of rice with boiling water and chicken stock concentrate into your measuring jug.  Add the saffron to the stock and allow to dissolve.  Add the white wine if using or if not use a little of the chicken stock.

Add the pepper & tomatoes and stir well. Add about half of the chicken stock, the spices and bay leaf. Give it a good stir and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the peas.

Keep stirring every now and then and top up on some stock when it starts to look a little dry.  It should take about 20-25 minutes for the rice to cook through. A few minutes before the end, add the prawns and a good squeeze of lemon (about half a lemon). Taste and season accordingly. Cook until the prawns are pink throughout and serve up with lemon wedges.

WeightWatchers ProPoints Per Serving: 13