Years ago, I took a class on how to make paella in Denver. I cannot recall if it was then I purchased the paella pan -- or later -- or before then! In any case, I have one. And, I have made paella a few times. And yet, the idea of making it has become progressively more intimidating -- rather than becoming more attractive. And yet, in recent months I have been using the paella pan to make soccer (a huge chickpea bread/pancake that is incredibly easy to make -- 1 cup chickpea flour, 1.3 cups water, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt mixed and poured into a pre-heated and oiled - at 450 degrees - paella pan -- for 18 minutes) and so was feeling my oats just a bit.
So: I resolved to make a paella when we had company over (American) Thanksgiving. And, so I did. I made a vegetarian paella featuring peppers and fennel and artichoke hearts. It was absolutely wonderful -- and very easy to make (well, relatively easy to make). I am pleased with it and reproduce the recipe here, with a few tweaks to draw on for my next adventure. The recipe is called Barcelona Inspired Vegetarian Paella and comes from Whole Living Lauren. You can find it here -- unless of course the site comes down before you click -- so I have also reproduced it below. This is, by the ay, a blog worth exploring.
Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 small red bell pepper, cut into strips
- 1 small yellow pepper, cut into strips
- 1/2 fennel bulb (or anise), cut into strips (Bibliochef used 2 small fennel heads)
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 6 Tbsp white wine (author of recipe used Pino Grigio; bibliochef used something else and I cannot remember what!)
- 1 tsp saffron threads
- a pinch of salt
- 2 cups boiling vegetable stock - as noted below I added almost the same amount of water later in the process)
- 3/4 cup canned cannellini beans (I used the whole can)
- 10-12 grape tomatoes, halved
- 5 small grilled artichokes in oil from jar, drained and quartered (I used frozen artichoke hearts; see below)
- 10 pitted kalamata olives, halved (I may have been more profligate)
- 2 Tbsp roughly chopped fresh parsley
- 4 lemon wedges
Here are Lauren's
Instructions
- Heat up the olive oil in a large shallow skillet, and gently cook the onions for about 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers and fennel and continue to cook on medium heat for about 5-6 minutes, or until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. COMMENTARY: I USED A PAELLA PAN)
- Add the bay leaves, paprika, turmeric, and cayenne to the vegetables and stir well.
- Add the rice and stir thoroughly for 2 minutes before adding the wine and saffron.
- Boil down for a minute, then add the boiling vegetable stock and a pinch of salt. Reduce the heat and simmer very gently for about 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. *Do not cover the pan and don't stir the rice during the cooking. COMMENTARY: I DID THIS AND THE RICE WAS NOT DONE. I ADDED ABOUT @ CUPS MORE OF WATER AND WAITED ANOTHER 10-!5 MINUTES.
- Once the rice is cooked, remove the paella pan from the heat. Taste and add more salt if needed (without stirring the rice and vegetables much).
- Scatter the tomatoes, artichokes, and beans over the rice and cover the pan tightly with foil. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Take off the foil and scatter the olives on top of the paella and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with fresh lemon wedges.
The tweaks:
First: As noted, I used almost twice as much liquid as called for here. Unsure why but it was definitely needed.
Second: Also as noted, I used frozen artichoke hearts. They were fine -- just a bit less than I wanted them to be. Lauren was right in what she suggested. I wanted the artichokes to come up to the level of the rest of the dish. So: next time I shall either use bottled marinated hearts OR try roasting some small artichokes and adding them to the end of the dish.
Third: I did not get a crusty bottom and wish I had. So: I shall perhaps cook longer OR stick briefly in a very hot oven.
Hurrah -- the dish was very tasty -- the balance of saffron and smoked paprika is what made it.