🥘 Vegetarian Paella

An Amazing Vegetarian Paella Recipe from Heidi Swanson

Serves 10

Ingredients:

🫒  3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

🥕 2 spring carrots, 1/4-inch dice

🧅 1 bunch of scallions or spring onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

🧄 3 garlic cloves, chopped

🍚 2 cups short-grain paella rice

🍅 1 cup sofrito

🫑  ½  tsp smoked paprika

🌿 ½ tsp saffron threads

🍅🥬 3 cups of bite-sized mixed vegetables: asparagus, peas, cherry tomatoes, summer squash, baby artichokes (trimmed and quartered), baby radish

5 cups hot vegetable stock

🌿🍋 toppings: lemon slices / olives / toasted sliced almonds / chopped herbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). 

Heat the olive oil in a large 11½-inches skillet (see notes) over medium heat. Sauce the carrots, scallions (or spring onions), until translucent. Stir in the garlic, and let it cook a little longer. Add the rice, stir well, and cook until the grains are also translucent, a few minutes - be mindful to not allow the rice to burn. Stir in the sofrito. Add the paprika. Crush the saffron with your fingers, and add that as well.

Simmer

Stir in the vegetables, pour the hot stock over all of it, stir, and bring to a moderate simmer. No more stirring allowed. Simmer for exactly 17 minutes. Set a timer. Taste the stock and re-season if necessary.

Bake the Paella

Move the paella to the oven and bake for another 12 minutes. Remove, and if you want to try to get a bit more crust on the base of your paella, and you’re confident your paella won’t burn, return the paella to a burner for another minute or so. 

Remove from heat and allow it to rest for another few minutes. Top with anything else you like - olives, nuts, lemons, herbs, etc. 

Serve family style in the pan.