Summer Vegetarian Paella with Aioli (v)
Sunshine, outdoor dining, fresh seasonal produce and a glass of wine with friends, what’s not to love?
This simple, vibrant dish of rice and vegetables is quick and easy to rustle up. I suggest you have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go, as it all comes together very quickly once the rice has cooked. A paella is traditionally a Spanish dish, often full of fresh fish, seafood and or cooked meats. This is my version that can be tweaked to suit a vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian or a carnivore diet.
Of course, you can also switch the vegetables and use up leftovers of your choice. I always have a bag of frozen peas in the freezer, as they often come in very handy. You can also use up store cupboard pulses like chickpeas or add jarred vegetables such as peppers in oil.
Basically use whatever you have to hand. If you are adding seafood or meat you can add this, cooked, at the end or serve separately in small tapas dishes, keeping the main paella dish vegan.
Serve with a dollop of fresh homemade aioli, which is also simple to make and takes this dish up a notch. Serve simply with a wedge of lemon, a scattering of fresh parsley, a chunk of crusty baguette and a glass of chilled rose or sherry. It’s a truly delightful dish.
Summer Paella
Serves: 6 | Prep: 25m | Cooking: 25m
1/2 red pepper thinly sliced in strips
1/2 yellow/or orange pepper(as above)
1/2 green pepper (as above)
1 courgette sliced into vertical chunks
2 carrots parboiled, sliced into vertical chunks
1 red onion, half moon slices
2 spring onions thinly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
400g tinned chopped tomatoes or fresh tomatoes chopped
300g paella rice ( I used Arborio Rice)
150g haricot vert (green beans) parboiled cut into vertical slices
100g frozen peas
75g Vegetarian chorizo or smoked sausage, sliced and pan fried ( I used Hema (France) sausage ‘Ook Worst’ you can use Quorn (optional)
4 artichokes in oil, drained and sliced
4 sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and sliced
1 tbsp capers, drained
handful of green sliced olives, without stones (optional)
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp of strands of saffron
1 1/2 litres of hot bouillon stock
1/2 glass dry white wine
1 tbsp tomato purée
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
3 tbsp olive oil
Handful fresh parsley/basil chopped finely (extra for serving)
Salt and pepper seasoning
1 lemon, zest and juice, extra lemon wedges to serve
Method
Bring a pan of water to the boil and parboil the carrots for a few minutes. Add the green beans and cook until both vegetables have softened (al dente). Drain and immerse in cold water to retain their colour and bite, pop to one side.
Next in a large frying pan or paella pan, fry the red onions in the olive with the assorted peppers, courgette, half the spring onions and cook until softened slightly.
Whilst this is cooking get your stock ready, adding the saffron strands to the hot stock.
Next add the garlic, paprika, chill flakes, tomato puree, white wine and rice to the pan. mix to coat all the grains of rice, then add half of the stock. bring the pan to a bubble, turn down the heat and add the remaining stock in intervals after the rice has evaporated the liquid at each stage. This should take about 20 minutes for the rice to be cooked.
Once all the stock has been added and the grains of rice still retain a bite, add the green beans, carrots, artichokes, frozen peas, capers, sundried tomatoes, olives (optional). Stir to combine all the ingredients.
Turn off the heat add the juice and zest of the lemon and a scattering of fresh basil and parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Leave the paella to sit for a few minutes off the heat for a crust to form on the base of the pan. This crispy base is called ‘Socarrat.’
Top with the vegetarian sausage or alternative, dollop of aioli and a lemon wedge on the side.
Enjoy — N x
Homemade Aioli
1 medium free range egg yoke
3 garlic cloves peeled
1/2 tsp sea salt
175ml good quality olive oil
2 tbsp lemon
Method
Using the back of the blade on your knife crush the garlic cloves with the salt on a chopping board to a smooth paste. Add to a bowl with the egg yolk and mix. Using either a hand whisk or electric whisk, slowly add the olive oil a bit at a time and keep whisking until you’ve added all the oil and you have a mayonnaise like consistency. Halfway through add the lime juice to avoid it splitting. Season to taste. Chill until ready to use.
