Chicken & Chorizo Paella

Not your traditional Paella, but every bit as good! This originally evolved from an amalgamation of 3 or 4 recipes I found in a Paella book in Spain years ago. The first time we made it, I think me and The Man cooked it together (probably the first dish we ever cooked together) It is my favourite paella dish. We only have it once or twice a year, when I remember its existence. The Man has requested it this week and we are having it tonight! It's so easy to make. and unlike a conventional paella, it's cooked mainly in the oven for the last 30 minutes, so if you have people round for dinner, you're not tied up in the kitchen. Mostly you just prepare the chicken and rice then bung it all together with the rest of the ingredients, top with a bit of cheese and shove it in the oven. We always have it with Garlic Bread and Salad. Oh and sometimes I add pork too in place of half the chicken - you could put just pork, just chicken, just chorizo, or whatever mix of the three you want. You can also add waterchestnuts for a bit of crunch, I can just never find them in Morrisons so I don't bother, It's just as good without.

Ingredients
340g paella or arborio rice
1.5pints chicken stock
1tsp turmeric (for colour mainly, feel free to use a pinch of saffron if you want)
2tbsp olive oil
900g chicken, cut into bitesited chunks
150g chorizo, sliced into 1/2cm discs
350g sweet red peppers from a jar
1 yellow pepper, chunked
3 stalks celery ( Optional -Dan makes me leave this out now as he HATES celery, I would leave it in)
1 medium onion, diced
5tbsp mayonaisse
1 can asparagus or celery soup
handful or two of grated cheddar cheese to top

Serves: 8
Time: 1hr
Kcal: approx 700 per serving

• Pre-heat oven to 180C
• Put the rice in a saucepan over medium heat, pour over the chicken stock, add the turmeric/saffron. Bring to a simmer then turn off the heat and leave for 25 minutes, covered.
• Meanwhile - heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and cook the Chicken (and pork if using) until golden all over, then remove from the heat.
• In a large ovenproof dish or paella dish that will fit in your oven (I use a large, deep roasting tin, I dont have many dishes!) mix the rice and meat and all the remaining ingredients apart from the cheese. Season and make sure it is all well mixed together, spread out evenly in the dish and top with the cheese.
• bake in the oven for 30 minutes et voila!

Really good with Garlic Bread and a simple salad.