Chiffonade’s Sausage, Chicken & Shrimp Paella

(Rises slowly...) My name is Louise Chiffonade Brescia and I am rice-impaired. My rice usually comes out like joint compound and after over 40 years of cooking, some of it professionally, I thought I had given up on rice altogether. One day I had an insatiable craving for paella and this dish was born. Hearty enough for a crowd, yet quick enough for a weeknight, I hope you enjoy this dish.

Chiffonade’s Sausage, Chicken & Shrimp Paella
by Louise

2 Tablespoons olive oil

4 chicken thighs
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1 cup diced red onion
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 Tablespoon (large pinch) saffron threads
3 cloves garlic, mashed to a paste with 1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons paprika
2 cups short-grained rice
3 cups homemade chicken stock
4 links Bilinski's Kale Balsamic Chicken Sausage, cut into rounds
1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 cup green pimento stuffed olives
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf Italian parsley

Heat large Dutch oven over medium/high heat until small wisps of smoke rise. Pour in oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook, skin side down, till skin is browned and crisp, 6-8 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.

Add onion, pepper and saffron to the pot and lower the heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally until soft, 6-8 minutes. Stir in a large pinch of salt and pepper, garlic and paprika and cook 2 minutes. Stir in rice and stock. Reduce heat to low, nestle chicken thighs, skin side up, into rice and vegetables (reserve chicken plate - it will be used again.) Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook 15 minutes. Again, remove chicken to reserved plate. Fold in raw shrimp, Bilinski’s Kale Balsamic Chicken Sausage rounds and olives and continue cooking another 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Sprinkle with chopped flat leaf parsley. Serve hot.