RECIPE: Spanish Burger with a Hint of Paella
Jump to RecipeI haven’t shared a recipe for a while and today I am super excited, and boy am I’m super-excited. As in my previous article, van Loveren sent me this gorgeous coppery pink bottle of wine called Perle de Jean. In the box I also received a jar of mayo and smoked paprika, and recipe on how to make your own crispy prawns. If you want that recipe you can find it here!
However, I really wanted to do something extra special and different. Isn’t that what cooking is all about – Experimenting?? The colour of the wine, the paprika and the prawns kept speaking something Spanish. Paella is good but still a little obvious. And I was still looking for a twist – boom the inspiration hit! A paella inspired burger, and so we will call it Spanish Burge . The ultimate taste of a perfect summer evening!!
Just think smoked paprika, spicy chorizo, sweet red peppers, grilled prawns and chicken and then to top it all off a homemade aoli. Your vehicle…. a delicious homemade Portuguese bread roll. Everything Spanish!!
The Bread:
I felt that I needed a good sized bun and one that can hold all the ingredients for this Spanish burger. Normal buns bought a the shops are too small to hold everything together. So I decided to make my own and boy there is nothing more nicer than a bread baking in the oven.
So OKAY…. I didn’t make them from scratch, scratch ( I did purchase ready made dough from Spar) but I did “cut” the dough into the size of the buns I wanted, and let them rise again, and put them in the oven and took them out again. I also did put on an egg yolk as a wash – and it gave them a gorgeous golden colour with a lovely shine.
Just look at that!! Crispy on the outside and soft, fluffy and light on the inside. Plus it has a nice hard and crisp crust so it will not go soggy. Nothing worse is having a soggy bun.
This Spanish burger takes a bit of work and has a number of different layers. But I do promise you that when it all comes together you will be licking your fingers.
First Layer: The Spanish Dance
First things first, we now start to fry the spicy chorizo, releasing all those wonderful Spanish flavours.
While this chorizo is doing the Spanish dance in the pan, it is time to do some slicing. Finely slice the peppers and onions. Add them to the chorizo. You want to saute them until they have this gorgeous colour. You don’t want them to to be soft, keep some crunch. Once ready, set aside. I would suggest using sweet onions for this recipe.
Creating The Heated Spanish Conversation!
Now it is time to spice things up. That chicken and prawns needs some flava! I created my own spice rub I put together smoked paprika for that smokiness, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, my favourite spice cumin, touch of coriander, and then some mixed Italian herbs and sprinkling of a Smoky South Western Season (season to your liking – this stuff if HOT), blessing of brown sugar, a drizzle of olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon .
Allow for it them to have their heated conversations for about 30min.
Once chicken is cooked cover with foil and allow to rest. Now from the prawns. We will also use the same spice mix for the prawns. I used meaty prawns. You can make them crispy if you like, but I chose to keep them soft, juicy and just plain delicious.
We almost done – I know this has been hard work, but put your favourite jam on and pour yourself a glass of wine. Enjoy yourself!! I promise it will be worth the work.
Add The Final Touches
I wanted to do a little more than just making a plain aioli with mayo and smoked paprika, so I added a few extra bits.
The one key ingredient of paella is saffron so thought of adding it to the aioli. If you don’t have it is ok, you don’t have to use it. It is just a lovely touch. 🙂
Adding a little garlic to mortle and pestle you can bash up the garlic into a paste so you don’t have to bit into raw garlic, adding a little capers gives it that real Mediterranean flavours of lemony olivey, salty kick. 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
Obviously adding the saffron give a colour, a note of earthiness. Perfecto!! Now all you need to do is put it all together.
Butterfly your bun, put a layer of your mayo, top with the chorizo mixture, add your chicken, then the prawns and top with more of the paprika aoili. ¡Buen provecho! Dinner is served!!
Paella Inspired Burger
Ingredients
Step 1: Chorizo, Sweet Onions and Red Peppers
- 200 grams Chorizo Sliced into rounds
- 2 medium Sweet Onions Peeled and Sliced
- 1 large Red Pepper Sliced
Step 2: The Spanish Rub
- 15 ml Sweet Paprika Ground
- 15 ml Smoked Paprika Ground
- 15 ml Sea Salt
- 5 ml Black Pepper Ground
- 5 ml Cumin Ground
- 5 ml Coriander Seeds Ground
- 5 ml Garlic Powder
- 5 ml Onion Powder
- 5 ml Crushed Chili (South Western Chipotle Spice)
- 1 pinch Saffron (Optional)
- 5 ml Boiling Water (Optional)
- 1/2 Lemon (juice)
- 1 drizzle Olive Oil Extra Virgin
Step 3: The Meat
- 4 Chicken Breasts Butterflied
- 200 grams Prawn Meat
Step 4: Spanish Aioli
- 250 ml Good Quality Mayo
- 15 ml Smoked Paprika
- 30 ml Butter
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 20 Caper Berries drained chopped
- 1 pinch Saffron (Optional)
- 5ml Boiling Water (Optional)
- 1 Good Squeeze of Lemon Juice
Instructions
Step 1: Spanish Spice Mix
- Mix all the dry ingredients together until combined.
- (OPTIONAL: if using the saffron, add the saffron to the hot water and allow to seep for 5 minutes)
Step 2: The meat (Part A)
- Taking two separate bowls one for the chicken and another for the prawns.
- Drizzle with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice to both the chicken and prawns.
- Add the Spanish spice mix to both the chicken and prawns
- If using saffron add to the mixture.
- Rub and coat both the chicken and prawns (keeping each meat still separate from each other)
Step 3: Chorizo, Sweet Onions and Red Peppers
- In a large frying pan over a high heat add a splash of oil and fry the chorizo until it begins to colour and the oils turns like a yellow/orange colour. Remove the chorizo.
- Add the onions to the pan and gently saute on high heat while stirring until the edges begin to colour. If you like add a splash of dry white wine. You want to get colour on the onions, but not to soften them too much. It should still have a crunch. Remove and add to the chorizo.
- Add the peppers to the onion pan and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Again you can add splash or two of dry white wine if you like. The same principal as the onions applies – so don't over cook the red peppers keep that gorgeous crunch. Add to the chorizo and onions back to the pan, give one quick stir and mix. Take of the heat and set aside.
Step 4: The Meat: (Part B)
- Heat a griddle pan over medium-high heat. Grill the chicken breasts while flipping every two minutes. It should take around 10 minutes in total. (Check if cooked by making sure the thickest part is cooked through. You don't want to be sleeping in the bath tub or shower for eating uncooked chicken.) Once cooked set aside, cover with foil and allow for it to rest.
- Grill the prawn meat until pink and glossy. Try not to over cook or they will be dry and rubbery. Set the prawns aside and allow for them to rest.
Step 5: Spanish Aioli
- Don't worry Chef you are almost there! Add the garlic cloves to a mortar and pestle and bash the garlic until you have a formed a paste.
- (If using saffron, again boil hot water and pour of saffron and allow for it to seep)
- Heat the butter in a pan and add the garlic, paprika and if using; the saffron. Gently fry for 2 minutes. Don't let it burn.
- Whisk the butter mixture into the mayo, add a squeeze of lemon juice and stir in the chopped caper berries.
Step 6: Bringing it all together
- The last and final step. Make sure all your elements are cooked and ready so you can put it all together in one final easy swoop. Give the buns a generous coating of the mayo and then layer the base with the chorizo mixture. Place the grilled chicken and prawns on top of that. Give another dollop of mayo if you like and then close. Served this with a lovely ice cold glass of the Jean de Perle! Well Done Chef!!
I was so in the mood for a burger last night. If I had read this last night I think I might have cried.