Multi-Vegetable Paella

23rd April, 2015

I was quite excited to try this recipe and see how different it was from a risotto.

To start, I friend the onion for a few minutes and then added the peppers and garlic until everything was softened and golden. I omitted the fennel because I always end up with too much fennel left over and no idea what to do with it. Limiting waste.

Next, I added the bay leaves, paprika, turmeric and pepper and stirred into the vegetables. Instead of sherry I just used extra stock which went in with the paella rice, along with a packet of paella seasoning which was just easier to use than buying things like saffron. It smelt amazingly smokey which made me instantly hungry. As always, this was left to simmer for around twenty to thirty minutes until all the liquid had boiled off and the rice was tender.

In the meantime, I defrosted the frozen broad beans with boiling water and chopped up the cherry tomatoes, olives and tinned artichokes. Once the rice was cooked, these final ingredients were stirred in and fried with the rest of the paella for a few minutes until they were warmed and seasoned.

This definitely tasted better than a regular risotto. The smokey flavours and the unusual combination of ingredients made this extra special.