Paella ‘Cakes’

Jo says: “All the flavours from the wonderful Spanish Paella served as individual ‘cakes’. Great for making ahead and everyone will just love them.”

Serves
Makes about 16 cakes
Takes about 1 hour (including 20-25 minutes of cooking), plus chilling

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper, seeds removed and thinly sliced
1 small chicken breast, cut into tiny pieces
75g chorizo sausage, cut into small cubes
200g paella rice
550ml chicken or vegetable stock
pinch of saffron
1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika (normal paprika can also be used)
6 sun-dried tomato halves, finely chopped
75g frozen peas, de-frosted
100g frozen cooked small prawns, defrosted
1 small handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
flat leaf parsley leaves and small slices of lemon to garnish

Method
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the onion until softened. Add the pepper, chicken and chorizo – cooking for about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice, until it’s coated with the oil then and add the stock, saffron, paprika and sun-dried tomatoes. Bring to the simmer and cook about for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is tender and the stock has almost been absorbed.

Stir in the peas and prawns, letting them heat through for a couple of minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, stir in the parsley and then remove the pan from the heat, leaving the mixture to cool.
 
Once it’s cool, firmly shape into about 16 round, slightly flattened cakes. Put into paper cake cases and chill in the fridge until needed. Garnish the tops with parsley leaves and a slice of lemon.

PS... If you would like to make a meat free paella, cut out the chicken and chorizo and use 250g mixed cooked seafood (fresh or a frozen bag), adding to the paella when the prawns are added above. 

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