Cousin Tonys pretty easy Paella Recipe

How to make it

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• Pat shrimp dry and toss them with lemon zest, parsley, salt, black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Cover and refrigerate. Toss chicken pieces with salt, pepper, and a touch of olive oil and set aside.
• Add some olive oil to a 12” skillet (stainless or nonstick) over high heat. When oil is shimmering, not smoking, add the sausage in a single layer making sure that each makes contact with the skillet. Brown undisturbed on one side and then turn each piece to brown on the other side and then transfer sausage to a plate. Working quickly add red pepper strips to now empty skillet skin side down and cook undisturbed until skin begins to turn black and blister then remove to it’s own plate. Add half of chicken to skillet in a single layer and sear on one side then flip each piece and sear other side. Transfer chicken to plate with sausage and repeat with remaining chicken.
• Reduce heat to medium low and add onions to skillet adding olive oil as needed. Cook onions until translucent then add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add Aborio rice to skillet with onion and garlic and sauté until rice is a milky white color (not browned). Add tomatoes and stir mixture to coat each grain of rice. Continue to cook until tomatoes turn a nice deep red and onions have begun to brown. Stir in vermouth and cook until alcohol evaporates. Add half of stock or broth as well as saffron and water mixture. Gently stir in chicken, sausage, and bay leaves and bring to a simmer then reduce heat to medium.
• Simmer paella over medium heat ,stirring constantly, being careful not to spill contents over the sides of your skillet. When most of the liquid has absorbed, add remaining stock, stir, taste liquid, and add salt and pepper as necessary. Increase heat to medium high, cover skillet, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove cover, reduce heat to medium, and stir constantly until nearly all of the liquid has absorbed and the rice is al dente. Stir in peas and shrimp and then pack everything down nice and even. Cover and cook until shrimp is pink and cooked through. Remove cover and turn heat to high. Cook over high heat for 5 minutes uncovered to brown the bottom and create the “socarrat”.
• Remove skillet from heat and allow to rest uncovered for 5 minutes. Peel any charred skin from red pepper strips and arrange them in a pinwheel shape on top of paella. Tuck one point of each lemon wedge into paella in between pepper strips. Garnish with remaining parsley and bring skillet to the table for your family and friends to enjoy.
• *breasts don't work well for this dish, but if you insist on using them don't return them to the pan until you add the shrimp at the end.
• **an authentic Paella uses Spanish Valencia rice. It's similar to Aborio and you can find it at Whole Foods or any other gourmet grocer. I got a bag that was loaded with tiny little insects once and haven't used it since.