Review: Sophie Thompson - My Family Kitchen cookbook

This lovely book of cookery delights landed in my little kitchen a while ago, and having done that thing where you give it a flick through to begin with and look at all the pretty pictures of food, I then flicked through it again - this time reading all the recipes on offer. I then looked at this properly, Sophie Thompson, Celebrity Masterchef 2014 winner, and brilliant actress' first ever cookbook. I then went back and post-it-noted all the dishes that appealed to me.

Sophie describes that "For me, cooking has always been about sharing and spending time with pals and family, luring them in with tasty morsels so they'd want to stay all day...These recipes have been handed down, invented, begged and borrowed and ultimately made my own."

I finally found some time to cook one of the dishes - I went for the Paella because I love paella, and the last time I tried to make it, it turned more into a risotto and took about 4 hours... but Sophie specifically says that her version is quick so I went with it. Here's what happened (with a few amendments/missing ingredients as explained below):

Serves 4

Prep time: 20min

Cooking time: 40min

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp chilli oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 skinless chicken breast fillets

1-2 tsps sweet smoked paprika

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

150g chorizo, chopped

1 small red pepper, sliced

1 small yellow pepper, sliced

300g paella rice
300ml dry white wine
500ml hot chicken stock
Large pinch of saffron
100g fresh/frozen peas, defrosted
225g prawns
Few stalks of thyme or rosemary
300g mussels (optional)
Salt & pepper

So I had full intentions of getting all these ingredients, but one of the problems with living where I live is that there are only small supermarkets available and some ingredients just don't appear on any of the shelves...and also the fact that I was a bit slow and forgot to do some vital prep - I had forgotten to defrost the chicken I had (but I prefer chicken thighs with skin on - much tastier), I would definitely always go for mussels, but I couldn't find any, neither was there saffron, I thought I had stock but I hadn't (I used water instead, and to be honest, I personally prefer it as I find ready made stock quite salty anyway). So I basically made a chorizo and prawn paella...

Spot the differences...

Prep all done! I found some tomatoes in the fridge too - not conventional, I know, but I thought it helped make up for my lack of ingredients to star with...

Let's get some cooking done!

Heat the oils in a large, wide sauté or paella pan (if you don’t have any chilli oil, use a little more vegetable oil). Add the sliced onions and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes over a medium heat until golden.

Toss the chicken [if you've got it] in the paprika and add to the pan. Sizzle and stir for a few minutes until it is browned. Add the chopped garlic, chorizo and peppers then stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.

Add the rice and stir to coat well. Add the wine [and smell the alcohol steaming off the pan], stock and saffron, give it all a good stir, then leave to simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes. Don’t be tempted to stir it again – in Spain, a slightly crispy layer of rice on the bottom of the pan is known as socarrat and is completely authentic.

Scatter over the peas then push the prawns, thyme or rosemary stalks and mussels, if using, into the rice. Discard any mussels that do not close when tapped sharply. Season to taste.

Cover the pan with a lid or foil (to allow the mussels to steam) and cook for a further 7-8 minutes. Take a peek to make sure everything looks cooked – you may need to add a little more stock. Remove any mussels that haven’t opened then turn off the heat and leave to rest for a few minutes before serving. 

As tempted as I was to start prodding and stirring the concoction, I followed the instructions of not touching it, so I found something else to do to distract me from looking underneath the lid. 

And this was the result:

It (kinda) looks like paella! Hoorah!

I can confirm it tasted delicious, even if I didn't have some of the ingredients, but the fact is, the recipe was really easy to follow. I like Sophie's little stories and notes that go with the recipe, it makes it feel genuinely something she and her family would cook at home, and so nothing is too over complicated or confusing, and everything is described as it is and on point. The paella is definitely a go-to recipe for me from now on. 

Next up is Salted Caramel Cookies I've had my big, fat post-it note on...

Sophie's cookbook now lives happily on my shelf next to its new, and slightly greasy friends.