Why it’s good for mums
A traditional paella is actually quite labour intensive and not appropriate for everyday cooking. My paella is actually based on a baked risotto, you can put the rice in the oven to bake for 30 mins and not have to worry about it. Also with a baked risotto you can still get the crunchy base that paella has. The rest of the ingredients are panfried and toss thru the rice after cooking.
Why it’s good for kids
Rice is a favourite amongst kids and if you have a picky eater, rice is generally one of their staple dishes. Rice is also great for moulding into different shapes for fun presentation.
Ingredients
olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup arborio rice
1½ cups chicken stock or water
400 g can chopped Roma tomatoes
green prawns (approx 2-3 per person)
2 Kransky sausages, diced (or alternative sausage)
200g chicken diced into bitesize pieces (tenderloins, thigh or breast)
2 small zucchinis, diced
½ red or green capsicum, diced
¼ cup green peas
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Heat a 3 litre capacity ovenproof dish (you will need the lid later) over a medium heat.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, onion and sea salt and stir for 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Add rice and stir for another minute or until rice is cooked in the olive oil and onion mixture.
- Add the stock or water and the chopped tomatoes and bring to simmering point.
- Cover with lid dish and place in oven to bake the rice for 30 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.
- 10 mins or so before the rice is cooked, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large frypan.
- Add Kransky sausage and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Then add chicken pieces to pan and let brown.
- Now add zucchini to pan and cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes.
- Add red capsicum to pan and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
- Lastly add peas and prawns to pan and cook, stirring until prawns have changed colour.
- Remove form heat and stir through the rice when cooked.
Tips
You can add any ingredients you like for your paella. You many like a seafood paella with calamari and fish. Change the vegetables to suit your kids tastes.
My kids pefer raw capsicum so when tossing everything together I add the capsicum here. I also use frozen peas for this dish as its easier.
Hidden vegetables
Any white vegetables can be disguised in rice, ie cauliflower, squash or peeled zucchini. Steam and puree and then portion out your childs serve and mix through. This way you know exactly how much to add. Then follow the steps for ‘creating a scene’.
Busy Mums
The rice can be made prior and reheated on the stove before adding the prawns, sausage, chicken and vegetables.
2nd sitting
Set aside required amount of prawns, sausage, chicken and vegetables and pan fry when ready to eat. Toss through reheated rice.
Spice it up
Garlic + Chilli Mussels. Heat a tablespoon olive oil in a wok until almost smoking. Add approx 12 mussels and stir for a minute. Add in 1-2 cloves crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon chopped chilli, basil leaves, ½ cup white wine and cover for approx 5 mins or until the shells open. Discard any mussels which haven’t opened. Serve with lemon wedges.
Also you can substitute the sausage for chorizo, which is a spicy Spanish sausage.
Creating a Scene
Leaving the prawns aside. Using a shaped mini cake tins put the rice mixture into the tin and then turn out onto the plate. Lay the prawns on top.
Hands On
- Measure risotto ingredients
- Older kids can stir risotto on the stove
- Decide what vegetables they would like
- Wash vegetables
Game Time
‘Bites’ – This game is about taking bites of dinner as different animals and other objects, ie you may ask them to take a monster bite like a monster, a big bite like a crocodile, a small bite like a mouse, a giant bite like a whale, a huge bite like a giant, a ferocious bite like a dragon or dinosaur, a small bite like a butterfly etc etc.
Your Feedback
If this recipe appeals to you and you bookmark it to cook for a family dinner, please stop by after the dinner and let me know how it went. I really want to know what you think of the recipe, how your kids reacted, how your hubby reacted, was it easy to follow etc. While I love hearing all the good stuff, I also don’t mind hearing from you where things went wrong so I improve it.
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