Chorizo and Pork Loin Paella

What you need:

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 1 chorizo sausage, 6 or 7 inches long, cut into 1/4-to 1/2-inch-thick slices

• 1/2 pound boneless pork loin, cut into 1/2 cubes to 1-inch pieces

• 1 bell pepper, red, yellow, or green (you decide), cut into 1-inch squares

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 5 or 6 whole tomatoes, good fresh ones if you’ve got them, blanched and peeled

• 7 cups chicken or vegetable stock

• A big pinch of saffron

• 2 1/2 cups bomba rice

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon paprika (I like regular paprika, but use smoked paprika if you want; this is your deal)

• Zest of one lemon

What you do:

1. Put the olive oil in the pan, get it nice and hot, and brown the chorizo on both sides. You want the oil to take on that good chorizo flavor. Then take the chorizo out and do the same with the pork. When it’s browned, too, set it aside with the chorizo. Put the bell pepper in the pan and sauté it 'til it starts to soften, then add the garlic and let it soften, too.

2. Crush the tomatoes with your hands, get them nice and pulpy, add them to the pan, and let that sauce cook down for 7 or 8 minutes, scraping up all those burnt-meat bits from the browning as you go.

3. When the sauce is starting to thicken up, add the stock and boil that thing for about 10 minutes. Then add the saffron and put the meat back in. Now you’re ready for the rice. Sprinkle it in as evenly as you can and shake the pan a few times so the rice spreads out as smooth as you can get it.

4. Then just leave that mixture roiling with the heat at medium-high. After 10 minutes, turn the heat real low, so the paella is barely simmering, and leave it like that for another 8 minutes. It might look to you like it’s getting dry. But really what it’s doing is getting done.

5. Take the pan off the heat, sprinkle the paella with salt and pepper, paprika, and lemon zest, cover it with a towel, and set it aside for 5 or 10 minutes. Call your friends and family to the table.