Paella

Paella—can't you smell the piquant spiciness?

A friend passed along this recipe for paella, which she found in a newspaper. I didn't have all the ingredients, but, wanting to use up what was in my fridge, I decided to improvise. Fortunately paella is a forgiving dish—almost anything goes.

The recipe called for Calasparra rice, which is grown in Spain and is similar to arborio rice. But I had something Tesco calls paella rice. Maybe it's the same thing—only Tesco knows.

Paella, unlike risotto, doesn't need to be stirred constantly. That means while the rice is cooking, you can prepare the rest of the meal. In this case, I served it with a spinach salad and some hummus and bread. If you have any vegetarian tapas, that would be a nice way to keep with the Spanish theme.

The best thing about this paella? The way the kitchen still smelled divine, hours later. The spices, the saffron, the lemon—I wouldn't mind a visit to Spain, if it smells like this!

Paella

olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 fennel bulb, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
dash of cayenne pepper
1 cup paella rice or arborio or any short-grain rice
1/3 cup sherry
1/2 teaspoon saffron strands
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup peas (frozen is okay)
1 cup jarred artichokes
about a dozen black Greek or Spanish olives
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 lemon, sliced

Combine the saffron strands in the sherry. Set aside.

Heat about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy pan. Add the onion, peppers, fennel, and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add the spices and the rice. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes.

Add the sherry-saffron mixture, and cook until it's absorbed. Add the vegetable stock and salt (if the stock isn't seasoned) and just mix together. Stop stirring. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer. After 10 minutes, add the peas to the top of the dish, and cover with a lid.

After 10 more minutes, add the artichokes, olives and parsley to the top of the dish. Cover for another 2 minutes, then add the lemon slices and serve.

Note: If you have no paella rice in your pantry, try this with any short grain rice.

Comments

[Anke]

I've lived in Spain for a while. It really has a distinct smell - and chlorine and garlic :-) (from cleaning and cooking)

btw: this paella looks gorgeous :-)

[Anke]

... smell OF chlorine and garlic, I meant...

[KathyF]

Now I can't get that image--err, smell--out of my head. Not sure I want to go to Spain after all!

[Louise]

mmm.. I'm spanish and not sure that has anything to do with paella.. Olives, turmenic, sherry!!?? Maybe you can call it just rice the next time!