Paella de verduras

Ingredients

• 10½ ozshort-grain riceshort-grain rice such as bomba; risotto or long-grain rice as a substitute
• 3⅔ cupsvegetable stockhot, with the saffron stirred in
• 4 tbspolive oilfor frying
• 2onionfinely diced or cut into wedges
• 3 clovesgarlicfinely chopped
• 2bell pepperred and yellow, cut into strips or pieces
• 1zucchinisliced or diced
• 8¾ oztomatoespeeled and diced or grated
• 7 ozgreen beanstrimmed, briefly blanched
• 5¼ ozpeasfreshly shelled or frozen
• 8¾ ozartichoke heartsjarred or canned, drained and halved; or fresh artichokes
• ⅛ ozsaffronthreads, dissolved in the hot stock
• 2 tsppaprikasweet or smoked (pimentón de la Vera)
• 1 bunchspring onionssliced into rings, partly cooked, partly for sprinkling
• 3bay leafadded with the stock
• 1 bunchparsleyfinely chopped, for sprinkling
• 1lemoncut into wedges for serving
• saltto taste
• pepperto taste
• 7 ozbutton mushroomssliced or halved, well browned (optional)
• 8½ ozchickpeascanned, drained (optional)
• 3½ ozolivespitted (optional)
• 1chiliseeded and finely chopped; cayenne pepper as a substitute (optional)
• 3thymesprigs, leaves picked (optional)
• ½ cupwhite winefor deglazing the rice (optional)

Method

1. Wash and trim the vegetables: cut the bell peppers into strips or pieces and the zucchini into slices or dice, finely chop the onions and garlic, and slice the spring onions into rings. Peel and dice or grate the tomatoes, then drain and halve the artichoke hearts.
2. Blanch the green beans and peas briefly in boiling water and refresh them in cold water straight away. Dissolve the saffron in the hot vegetable stock and keep the stock warm.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large, wide, shallow pan. Brown the bell peppers and zucchini hard in batches, adding the mushrooms too if you're using them, season with salt and black pepper and lift them out again.
4. In the same oil, soften the onions, garlic and some of the spring onions, adding the chopped red chili at this point if you like. Toast the paprika for a moment, then add the tomatoes and let them cook down for a few minutes until you have a thick sauce.
5. Add the paella rice and stir it for 1 to 3 minutes until it turns translucent. If you like, deglaze with the white wine and let it bubble off briefly.
6. Pour in the hot saffron stock, add the bay leaves, spread the rice evenly across the pan and bring everything to the boil. Then let it simmer for about 20 minutes, and from now on, don't stir.
7. For the last 10 minutes, scatter the browned vegetables, peas, green beans and artichoke hearts over the rice and press them in lightly. This is also the moment to add chickpeas, olives and thyme leaves if you want them.
8. Take the pan off the heat, cover it and let the paella rest for 5 to 10 minutes so the rice can soak up the last of the stock. Fish out the bay leaves.
9. Scatter over the parsley and the rest of the spring onions and serve with lemon wedges.

Tips and variations

If you'd rather keep the hob free, the paella can go in the oven at 180 to 220 °C for 25 to 45 minutes. For a green paella, use broccoli and baby spinach; corn, canned or cut from the cob in rounds, works well too. For a different spice direction, reach for turmeric and harissa and cook a halved head of garlic along with the rice, add seitan to make it more filling, or swap the rice for yellow lentils. To serve, scatter toasted slivered almonds over the top and simply set the pan down in the middle of the table.