Arroz con Pollo y Chorizo (Chicken & Chorizo Paella)

-Adapted from "Cook Simple" by Diana Henry

This is kind of a fake paella seeing as it is baked in the oven at the end, but it is easy and tasty - much less effort than a risotto and you still get the flavours soaked into the rice!




Ingredients :

• 5-6 pieces of chicken (I used drumsticks & thighs)
  
• salt and pepper
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red capsicum, deseeded and sliced
• ½ mushrooms, sliced
• half a dozen dried chili peppers (optional)
• 1 large chorizo sausage
• ½ large red onion
• 2 large garlic cloves, pounded or crushed
• 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika (I used regular paprika)
• ½ tsp dried chili flakes (I used 3/4 tsp)
• 2.5 cups chicken stock
• 1 - 1 ¼ cup Spanish Calasparra rice (I used Arborio rice)
  
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley (I mistakenly bought a bunch of cilantro instead and added a whole lot - tasted good!)
• juice of ½ lemon
• extra-virg olive oil

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400F
   
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper. I used sea salt to crisp the skin but I'm not sure if it worked.
3. Heat olive oil in a broad shallow pan and brown the chicken on all sides
4. Take the chicken out of the pan and set aside. (I placed them on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil)
5. Add the peppers, mushrooms, and chorizo to the pan and saute over a medium heat until the peppers are softening
6. Add the onion and garlic and cook unti the onion is soft
7. Stir in the paprika, chili powder, and dried chili peppers and cook for a minute
8. Add the chicken stock
9. Replace the chicken and simmer, covered, over a gentle heat for 15 minutes
10. Transfer the contents of the pan into a wide ovenproof dish (I didn't have a large dish, so I used a stainless steel pot)
11. Pour the rice around the chicken and season well
12. Place in oven and cook for 30 minutes(for stainless steel pot) or until stock has been absorbed and rice is soft. Do not stir.
    (Towards the end, I got impatient and turned the heat up to 450-500F in an attempt to speed up cooking. I'm not sure if it worked, but the dish turned out fine when it was ready.)
    
13. When cooked, cover the dish with foil and let it sit for 5 minutes (I skipped this step)
14. Scatter with parsley (or coriander) and lemon juice
15. Drizzle with olive oil to serve (skipped this step too)