Vegetarian Paella

Paella is a Valencian rice dish that originated in the mid-19th century. The most accepted story of its origin was that servants would take the leftovers from royal banquets, then cook them over open fires into delicious dishes that they could bring home to their families. Paella became popular as a dish served to laborers. Originally, paella was a one-pot dish made with rice, aromatics, vegetables, poultry, meats, and seafood. These days, paella is found in most Western countries in different varieties.

With this easy-to-follow vegetarian paella recipe, your family and friends can enjoy a festive, hearty and delicious dish of vegetarian paella for lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, halved
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 220 grams of carrots, sliced
• 250 grams of red bell peppers, sliced
• 230 grams of snow peas, sliced
• 300 grams of artichoke hearts, sliced
• 220 grams of mushrooms, sliced
• 200 grams of cauliflower florets
• 1 ⅓ cups of green peas
• 200 grams of boiled large lima beans
• 300 grams of tomato puree
• 2 liters of vegetable broth
• ⅛ tsp saffron powder
• 30 grams of sweet paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups of Arborio rice
• 2 tbsp of chopped parsley

Instructions:

This recipe takes about 45 minutes to make. Serves 6 to 8.

Heat oil in a large non-stick pan or paellera over medium heat.
Add garlic, spring onion, 3/4 cup of vegetable broth, and salt.
Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, then remove the garlic.
Add carrots, bell peppers, and snow peas.
Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and 3/4 cup of vegetable broth.
Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add cauliflower, peas, lima beans, and 3/4 cup of vegetable broth.
Cook for 10 minutes.
Dissolve saffron powder in a little amount of vegetable broth.
Add tomato puree, the remaining vegetable broth, saffron mixture, and paprika.
Stir well, then add salt and rice.
Stir well and cook over high heat for 7 minutes.
Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook the rice for another 10 minutes.
Turn off heat and serve.

Ideas And Tips:

• Once you add the rice, you can no longer stir the mixture. You may gently shake the pan once in a while to distribute the liquid and to make sure the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

• Aside from snow peas, you can use green beans.

• Aside from lima beans, you can use pinto beans.

images – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FdOab4trX0