Paella Recipe Antony Worrall Thompson

This is an adaption of sorts from Anthony Worrall Thompson’s paella recipe on the BBC, with monkfish in place of chicken. We thought it was rather good.

First, mix about a tablespoon of plain flour with a heaped teaspoon of paprika (I like half-and-half smoked and sweet), the grated zest of a lemon, a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, all on a chopping board. Roll your monkfish fillet about in this, and then slice it into thick medallions – say an inch thick each.

Heat up some olive oil in a pan and stick the monkfish medallions in to pan-roast on one side, then flip them over to roast the other side too. You want the oil nice and hot so they brown, but you want to get them out before they’re fully cooked, say 6-8 minutes total.

Antony Worrall Thompson 'i Am Crying Myself To Sleep At Night'

Put the monkfish on the side for later, together with any liquid stock it has created in the pan. If your prawns are raw, put them in the same pan now and toss them about until they are cooked through, then put them on the side with the monkfish.

Meanwhile, chop up an onion, about four cloves of garlic and a red pepper, and slice about 50g of chorizo into coin-sized pieces. Add a little more oil to the pan, turn down the heat, and put all these in to sautée gently until the onion is soft.

Throw in a few sprigs of fresh or dried thyme, half a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes, and half a pint of bomba paella rice. Give it a good stir to make sure all the rice grains are well coated in the oily pan juices.

Bang Bang Chicken + Rice Noodles #114 Poultry Ready Steady Cook Recipe Page

Now add a pint of chicken or fish stock (I use a liquid concentrate for day to day cooking, rather than a cube), half a glass of white wine and any liquid from the monkfish and prawns. Give it all another good stir, bring to the boil, and then turn the heat down and leave to simmer for about 15 minutes. Don’t stir it – the idea here is to let the rice about the base and edges crisp up and burn a little.

Now push the monkfish pieces into the top of the paella, and sit your prawns and mussels nicely around the top, and leave it to cook gently until the rice is cooked through and all the liquid is soaked up. If it starts to get a little too dry, add a little more stock.

Finally, slice a lemon into quarters and set these among the prawns and mussels, and roughly chop some parsley and scatter it around the dish.

Book Antony Worrall Thompson