No need to sit and stir for hours on end to achieve an incredibly flavorful paella! Never have I ever made paella, however, I have made a plethora of one pot rice dishes and it baffles me that I never attempted a simple paella recipe. This was so simple even Dan was baffled that it only took 45 minutes start to finish to pull off a dish that tastes like I worked on it for hours.
Well, here it is folks…
In less than one hour, using a cast iron skillet or dutch oven, and a few key ingredients, you’ll be well on your way to bringing a dish to the table that will wow your guests. Layers of flavor are built with chicken sausage, aromatic spices and toasting long grain rice. Simmering everything in together with a combination of chicken stock and diced tomatoes and chilies, this rice wonder is then finished with plump shrimp to take everything over the edge.
Pair it with …
Serve with salad and a crisp dry rose or a medium bodied red wine will pair perfectly with this shrimp paella.
Simple Shrimp Paella
1 cup long grain rice
2 cup low sodium chicken stock
1 10oz can diced tomatoes & green chilies
1 onion, diced
1 12oz package of sweet Italian chicken sausage links, cut into coins
8-12 large raw shrimp
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
In a cast iron skillet, oven medium heat, with a tablespoon of olive oil, sauté the chicken sausage coins until they are caramelized. Remove sausage from pan, and set aside on a plate. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the cast iron skillet and sauté onion until translucent. Next, pour in the cup of long grain rice, along with the salt, pepper, smoked paprika, turmeric and garlic powder. Stir for just a minute or so to incorporate the spices and toast the rice. Add the can of diced tomatoes & chilies, along with the chicken stock and sausage. Give everything a good stir and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in frozen peas, and place raw shrimp on top the of rice in a circular pattern. Turn heat down to medium-low, and simmer for an additional 25-35 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed and shrimp is nice and pink.
Serve while warm! Enjoy!