Luxury Spicy Paella

Paella is a delicious marriage of seafood, meat, spices and vegetables and is arguably the best-known Spanish dish outside Spain. 

What better way to warm up than with this easy to make and fantastic family dinner that goes a long way.  What I enjoy the most is that you can make it as humble or luxurious as you like.  With the holiday season approaching, I enjoy a few special additions like Saffron and huge crab claws - not my usual throughout the year, believe me.

The three best known paella are Valencian paella, seafood paella and mixed paella, but there are several others as well.  Valencian paella is believed to be the original recipe and consists of rice, green veg, meat ... either chicken or rabbit, snails, beans and saffron, rosemary and lemon.  Seafood paella simply replaces the meat with seafood and omits the beans and green veg.  Mixed paella (my favourite)  is a free-style combination of all, which this recipe certainly is.

Luxury Spicy Paella

Serves 4

250g spicy sausage, cut into big slices
3 tbsp olive oil
4 - 5 chicken legs, large chunks off the bone

3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large red onion, chopped
1 yellow pepper, cut into strips
1 green pepper, cut into strips
250g rice/paella rice
750ml chicken stock, home-made is best
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
A good pinch of Saffron
10 ripe small Rosa tomatoes,halved
200g prawns, out of shell in big chunks
1 tin smoked mussels, with sauce
4 crab claws
100g frozen peas
100ml cream

Heat a big flat wide casserole dish.
Fry sausage until brown all over, remove and put aside.
Add oil and fry chicken until golden, remove and put aside.
Add garlic, onions, peppers, and fry until golden.
Stir in rice and cook until pale gold in colour.
Pour in half stock, cayenne pepper, salt, saffron and tomatoes and bring to the boil.
Add sausage, chicken, prawns, mussels and crab claws.
Cover and cook for 30 min carefully, stirring regularly adding more stock if necessary.
3 min before cooking time, remove lid, add peas and cream and stir well, adjust seasoning.
Allow to stand for 5min and serve

Mussel Pot

Who doesn't love a huge pot of steaming mussels? I personally prefer a heavier sauce as appose to a broth stock, so here is my decadent and not-so-healthy recipe.  Suitable for 2 foodie lovers ... here we go.

Mussel Pot
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2kg fresh mussels, beards removed
1 tbsp flour
1 red onion, finely chopped
3 large clove garlic, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp flour
300ml chicken stock ( homemade if possible)
250ml lite cream
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine


Add flour in a big mixing bowl and top up with water
Add mussels and soak for 20 min (this takes the grit out) then strain
Boil a pot of water on the stove, add mussels, cover and simmer until they have opened
Those that do not open, discard
Strain and set aside
In a second pot add olive oil, onion, garlic, celery, cumin, paprika and cook on medium until tender
Add flour and stir, then stock and cream, salt and pepper and stir until it thickens
Add wine off the heat
Remove half of the mussels out of their shells and add to sauce
Add balance of shelled mussels, and heat through, do not boil
Add chopped celery leaves for garnish and serve with some crispy baguette