Skottel paella
Chicken, boerewors and seafood paella for a crowd, cooked in a skottel or paella pan on gas with smoked paprika, saffron and short-grain rice.
- SkottelGas
- Medium flame
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cooking
- 55 min
- Serves
- 6 to 8
- Done at
- 165°F (74°C)
Ingredients
Base
Rice and seafood
Method
- Preheat the skottel on a medium flame. Brown the chicken in half the oil for 8 to 10 minutes, turning, then move it to a plate. Brown the wors for 4 minutes and add it to the plate.
- Add the rest of the oil, the onions and red pepper. Cook for 8 minutes until soft, then add the garlic for 1 minute.
- Stir in the tomatoes, paprika, saffron with its water and the bay leaf. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the wine and cook for 5 minutes more until thick.
- Return the chicken and wors. Scatter the rice evenly over the pan and stir once to coat it.
- Pour the hot stock around the pan. Bring it to a simmer, then turn the flame to low. Do not stir from now on.
- Cook for 15 to 18 minutes until most of the stock has been absorbed. Press the prawns, mussels and calamari into the top and scatter the peas over.
- Cover with foil or a lid for 5 to 7 minutes until the prawns are pink and the rice is tender.
- Turn off the gas and rest the paella, covered, for 10 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges and parsley.
Done when: the rice is tender with a light crust underneath, the chicken reads 74°C (165°F) at the thickest part, and the prawns are pink and opaque at 63°C (145°F).
Tips
- Not stirring is what makes the crisp layer on the bottom, called socarrat. Listen for a gentle crackle near the end.
- Wind makes the edge of a wide pan cook slower than the centre. Set up a windbreak, or turn the pan a quarter turn every few minutes.
- Paella rice soaks up more stock than ordinary rice. Keep extra hot stock nearby in case the pan dries before the rice is done.
Paella was made over open fires in Valencia long before it reached South Africa, where the wide, shallow skottel turned out to be a near-perfect paella pan. This version swaps some of the chorizo for boerewors, as many local cooks do. Read cleaning and caring for a skottel before you tackle the crust afterwards.
Source
Adapted from South African inspired Paella – made on the Skottel at The Roasted Dad and Skottelbraai paella at Allerhande.