In 6 weeks we're off to Barcelona for a long weekend. It's over 10 years since I was there and my husband has never been. I can't think of anywhere more perfect for the two of us though and I suspect a large percentage of our time there will involve sherry, chorizo, jamon Iberico and churros.
To get us in the mood I thought I'd try making a paella. Neither of us are big fans of seafood, so the challenge was to find a recipe that would avoid that, but still have lots of flavour.
Not a problem, as I already had my eye on a vegetable paella recipe from Yotem Ottlenghi's Plenty which I could adapt. Along with a few other tweaks, I left out some of the veg and added chorizo. Obviously it's no longer a vegetarian dish but the vegetables are still the main flavour, with the chorizo accenting them. You can easily use the recipe as a base and add veg, meat or seafood of your choice.
It did initially take longer to cook than I expected but I then realised that having the hob on a very low heat meant that the stock wasn't hot enough to make the rice absorb it. Live and learn.
Yes, skinning the broad beans is a faff but it really is worth it. The more I did, the quicker I got and the better my technique. I won't lie though, a few did shoot across the room, for which the dog was very grateful!
To get us in the mood I thought I'd try making a paella. Neither of us are big fans of seafood, so the challenge was to find a recipe that would avoid that, but still have lots of flavour.
Not a problem, as I already had my eye on a vegetable paella recipe from Yotem Ottlenghi's Plenty which I could adapt. Along with a few other tweaks, I left out some of the veg and added chorizo. Obviously it's no longer a vegetarian dish but the vegetables are still the main flavour, with the chorizo accenting them. You can easily use the recipe as a base and add veg, meat or seafood of your choice.
It did initially take longer to cook than I expected but I then realised that having the hob on a very low heat meant that the stock wasn't hot enough to make the rice absorb it. Live and learn.
Yes, skinning the broad beans is a faff but it really is worth it. The more I did, the quicker I got and the better my technique. I won't lie though, a few did shoot across the room, for which the dog was very grateful!
Ingredients:
3 tbsp olive oil
100g chorizo diced small
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1 red and 1 yellow pepper cut into strips
1 small fennel bulb, cut into strips
2 bay leaves
¼ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp turmeric
A pinch of cayenne
150g paella rice
100ml sherry
½ tsp saffron strands
400ml warm vegetable stock
½ sea salt
200ml chopped tomatoes
200g frozen broad beans
15 pitted Kalamata olives, halved
How to make it:
1. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the chorizo until it starts to crisp, then remove from the pan.
2. Add the onion to the same pan and fry for about 5 mins until it turns translucent.
3. Add the peppers and fennel and fry for about 6 mins more, making sure that the fennel has softened and started to turn brown.
4. Add the bay leaves, paprika, turmeric and cayenne to the vegetables and mix thoroughly for a minute.
5. Add the rice and stir for two minutes, making sure that all the rice has taken on the oil and flavours in the pan.
6. Add the saffron to the sherry, then add both to the pan. Let it boil for a minute then add the tomato.
7. Add the stock, salt and chorizo and turn down to a medium to low heat.
8. Let it cook for 20mins without stiring or covering.
9. While it's cooking, put the broad beans in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for one minute then drain the water and re-cover with more boiling water. Leave for 2-3 minutes, then squeeze the beans out of their skins.
10. Once most of the liquid has been absorbed, sprinkle the beans and olives on the top and allow to cook for a few more minutes.
11. Check that the rice is soft but not soggy - it's ready to serve.
Adapted from Plenty by Yotem Ottolenghi
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