Southern Paella

August 30, 2024

In a battle of paellas, diversity and creativity —along with saffron — win the day

Ingredients

½ cupextra virgin olive oil, divided

8skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

6–8cloves garlic cloves, minced

½ cupdiced piquillo or pimiento peppers

1 ½ cupsbomba or Arborio rice

½ cupchopped Vidalia onion

2 tablespoonssmoked paprika

½ teaspoonsaffron threads, crushed

1 tablespoontomato paste

3tomatoes, grated

3 ½ cupschicken stock

12whole okra, halved

1 cupcooked butter beans, or black-eyed peas

1 ½Italian green beans

½ cupminced fresh rosemary leaves

1 bunchparsley, roughly chopped, divided

½ cuppeanuts

1 teaspoonkosher salt

1 tablespoonground black pepper

2lemons, quartered

Preparation

Pat chicken thighs dry, season with salt and pepper. Place skin-side down in a cold skillet, turn heat to medium for 5–6 minutes until fat begins to render from skin. Once thighs are browned, flip and add ¼ cup olive oil, onion, rice, garlic and paprika and sauté for 3–4 minutes while moving chicken around.
Add crushed saffron threads, tomato paste, chicken stock, grated tomatoes, salt and pepper. Evenly distribute rice around the chicken, reduce heat to medium low. Let cook 15–20 minutes.
Combine rosemary, peanuts, half of parsley and remaining olive oil in a food processor and pulse until you have a pesto-like consistency. Add salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice, about 1 teaspoon. Set aside.
Evenly distribute green beans, okra halves and butter beans around the paella, nestle them into the paella with a wooden spoon but do not stir the paella. Taste broth for seasoning.
When rice is al dente, turn up heat to medium high for 90 seconds to develop to develop a crispy layer of socarrat on the bottom of the skillet. Turn off heat and drizzle pesto around the dish. Sprinkle remaining parsley and zest a lemon over it to finish. Serve with lemon wedges.

Here is Chef Charles Hunter’s (@thesaltedtable) paella recipe, long on peanuts, chicken, butter beans and okra. It’s open to interpretation with your own seasonal ingredients.