Dinner, Lunch

Vegetarian Paella

Vegetarian Paella

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
3 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 bell peppers (pips and all white removed and thinly sliced)
1 medium onion (thinly sliced)
A handful of fresh baby tomatoes (halved)
1/2 cup fresh green asparagus(cut into 3 cm pieces)
1/2 cup green beans (cut into 3 cm pieces)
3 cloves of fresh garlic (finely chopped)
2 level teaspoons smoked paprika
A pinch of saffron threads
2 tablespoons good quality olive oil
A couple of bay leaves (fresh is better if you can get them)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
A handful of Buffet Olives Pitted Green Olives
A small jar of artichoke hearts (in water), drained and cut into chunks
1 cup green peas (if using frozen, thaw 1st as you don’t want the added moisture in the pan)
A tablespoon of capers (rinse under running water to remove some of the saltiness)
A small handful of fresh parsley leaves to garnish
A couple of lemon wedges to serve

Method

In a small bowl, combine the saffron with 3 tablespoons warm water and rest for 15min.
In a large heavy bottomed frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add your peppers and onions and cook (stirring often) for 4min (when the onions are just starting to turn translucent).
Add the beans, asparagus, tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves and paprika and cook for another couple of minutes (stirring often). Do not overcook the veggies; they should still have a good crunch at this stage.
Add your rice to the pan and then gently add the stock and saffron water over this. Give your pan a swirl and try and get the rice to the bottom of the pan as much as possible.
Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low to cook at a gentle boil, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Very important…from this stage onwards, Do not stir the rice. If it looks like you may need more liquid in the pan, you can add a little extra stock or water but keep this to a minimum…you want your rice to cook but to also still have a little crunch.
After cooking for about 15-20 min (or as soon as the rice is almost cooked to your liking), add the peas, artichokes, capers and olives on top and cook for another 3 min.
Remove from the heat and cover for 10 minutes with a kitchen towel.
When you are ready to serve, lightly fluff the rice and season with salt and pepper (as per your taste), add the parsley and a couple of lemon wedges for squeezing over. This dish is best served straight from the pan.
Enjoy with a fresh herb and leafy garden salad.

Similar Recipes