Paella Valenciana Clásica

Serves - 6

You’ll need

• 6 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on
• 2 rabbit legs, jointed, optional, or use extra chicken
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 200g green beans, trimmed and cut into shorter lengths
• 2 medium tomatoes, grated or very finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• Generous pinch saffron
• 300g paella rice
• 1.2 litres hot chicken stock
• 1 x 400g tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 rosemary sprig
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Method

1. Start with the meat

Heat the olive oil in a large paella pan or wide, shallow frying pan over a medium-high heat. Season the chicken and rabbit, if using, with salt and black pepper, then brown them well on all sides. This is not the moment to be timid – you want proper colour here, because that is where a good chunk of the flavour starts.

2. Add the beans

Once the meat has coloured nicely, add the green beans and cook for 4–5 minutes until they start to soften and catch a little. They should look like they belong in the pan by this point, not like they have only just turned up.

3. Build the base

Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the grated tomato and smoked paprika. Cook for 3–4 minutes until the tomato has reduced down and turned a little darker and richer. This is where it starts to smell like paella rather than just a pan of promising ingredients.

4. Add the stock and saffron

Stir the saffron into the hot stock, then pour it into the pan. Add the butter beans and the rosemary sprig. Bring everything up to a lively simmer and let it cook for 10 minutes so the stock can take on all those good flavours from the meat and vegetables.

5. Add the rice

Scatter the paella rice evenly across the pan and give it a gentle nudge so it settles into an even layer. From this point on, resist the urge to stir. Paella is not risotto, and this is one of the moments where that matters.

6. Cook it properly

Simmer over a medium heat for 10 minutes, then lower the heat slightly and cook for another 8–10 minutes until the rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Rotate the pan now and then if your heat is uneven, but do not start poking about with a spoon.

7. Chase the socarrat

In the final minute or two, turn the heat up slightly if needed to encourage that lightly caramelised bottom layer – the socarrat. You are listening for a gentle crackle rather than anything alarming. It is a fine line between beautifully toasted and a pan full of regret, so stay with it.

8. Rest and serve

Take the pan off the heat, cover loosely with a clean tea towel or foil, and leave it to rest for 5 minutes. Serve straight from the pan with lemon wedges alongside. It should look golden, generous and like something worth gathering round for.

A couple of helpful notes

- Bomba rice is ideal if you can get it, but any proper paella rice will do the job nicely.
- If you are using rabbit, it keeps things feeling more traditionally Valencian, but chicken alone is absolutely fine.
- The key with paella is confidence – get flavour in early, leave the rice alone once it is in, and do not be afraid of a little colour on the bottom.