PAELLA is a celebration meal for all the family or a group of friends to share. It is normally eaten by Spaniards at lunchtime, and traditionally served in the pan it is cooked in.

Shepherds first made paella (pronounced pah-ey-yah) in the field with whatever they could forage... such as rabbit, snails, vegetables plus, of course, the rice. The pan in which paella is cooked is called a paellero or paellera. Its large surface area allows the liquid to evaporate, producing delicious, slightly caramelised bits at the bottom of the pan. This is socarrat, a real treat for a paella connoisseurs.

The rice used in making paella is a short grain variety, calasparra, and it’s grown in south-eastern parts of Spain – mainly Valencia and Murcia –  the birthplace of paella. A base for every paella is sofrito, slowly cooked onions, garlic, peppers and tomato. This sweet and soft mixture combined with good quality chicken or fish stock, flavoured with a few strands of saffron and a handful of rice, produces the most basic rice dish that can be enriched with an endless array of seafood, fish and/or meat cuts.

The cooking of paella is very straightforward because of its humble origins – as long as the basic rules are followed. First, a flat dish with large surface is needed, and a good-quality olive oil to fry the onions, garlic, peppers and tomatoes for the sofrito. Then, of course, the right kind of rice that can absorb all the liquid and swell up to three times its original size. Good stock as described to flavour the rice, and then probably the most important factor – paella can be shaken but not stirred. In contrast to its famous Italian cousin, risotto, in which the idea is to make it creamy by stirring it constantly and releasing maximum starch, paella has to be left alone once all the liquid has been added. In truly laid-back Spanish style, just let it bubble away for the rice to absorb all the moisture and become shiny and glistening, but not greasy, with the beautiful adornment of the contrasting colours of seafood, meat and vegetables.

PAELLA RECIPE: serves six

4 tbsp olive oil / 1 red pepper, cut into strips/ 1 green pepper, chopped / 500 g chicken cut into small pieces / ½ a rabbit, jointed or 250 g tenderloin of pork, cubed / 1 Spanish onion, chopped/ 3 garlic cloves, chopped / 1 tbsp paprika / 250 g paella rice / 2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped / 1 litre chicken stock / 250 g green beans (sliced diagonally) or 100 g frozen peas / 225 g raw prawns in their shells / pinch of saffron threads, infused in 2 tbsp of warm water / salt and pepper / 1 lemon cut into 6

In a 40 cm paella pan, heat the olive oil and fry the peppers until soft, reserve them for the garnish later. In the same oil stir-fry the chicken and rabbit (pork) pieces until lightly brown, season them with salt and pepper. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Turn down the heat, add the onion and cook slowly for 10 minutes. Add the green pepper, the garlic, green beans (if using) and paprika, cook for 5 minutes then add the tomato. Cook for another 5 minutes until the juices have evaporated.

Return the chicken and the rabbit to the pan. Stir in the saffron, rice and a pinch of salt. Next pour in most of the stock. Now, without stirring, cook over high heat for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer for further 15 minutes. Check that the rice is almost cooked, add the peas (if using), place the prawns and the reserved peppers on top of the rice, add a little water if necessary and continue to cook for a few more minutes until the prawns turn opaque.

Turn them over. Take off the heat, cover with foil and put in a preheated oven (150C) for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven, let it rest for 5 minutes and serve with lemon quarters.