Vegetable paella
Paella is a dish of festive spirit and a markedly Mediterranean character. Its consumption became popular in the Albufera of Valencia and has since spread to as many places as there are versions of this delicacy.
This recipe is one of those singular cases in which the food takes its name from the object it is cooked in, since in Valencian ‘frying pan’ is ‘paella’, which comes from the Latin ‘patella’. So, although rice dishes were already widely eaten by the inhabitants of the towns of the Mediterranean coast in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, it was not until 1900 that in Valencia the rice prepared in the traditional wide pan, made of wrought iron with small handles, began to be called ‘paella’.
According to Lourdes March Ferrer, author of several works on gastronomy and food, this dish symbolizes the union and heritage of two important cultures: the Roman one, which gave us the utensil, and the Arab one, which in the 4th century BC brought us from Asia what for centuries was the staple food of humanity.
This vegetable paella is a very tasty vegetarian version thanks to the rich variety of ingredients, whose flavor and aroma the rice absorbs as it cooks. The result is a succulent, tasty and delicate rice dish.
It is a dish rich in carbohydrates, flavonoids and antioxidants such as quercetin, lycopene, glutathione, chlorophyll, isoflavones and beta-carotenes; inulin, alliin, omega 6 and omega 9 fatty acids, lecithin, fiber, protein, tryptophan, vitamins C, E, K and B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B9 or folic acid), calcium, copper, chromium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, selenium and zinc.
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- Step 1Bring the water to a boil with the vegetable stock cube and the salt, then keep it on low heat for 20 minutes.
- Step 2Preheat the oven to 175 °C and, meanwhile, finely chop the garlic and onion with a knife.
- Step 3Heat the oil in a paella pan and, when it is warm, add the garlic and onion. Let them soften over medium heat for 5 minutes while you cut the green and red peppers into small pieces, setting aside a few strips of the red pepper for decoration.
- Step 4When the garlic and onion are softened, add the green and red peppers, both the chopped pieces and the strips. Sauté everything together for 10 minutes and, when ready, set aside the red pepper strips.
- Step 5Add the sliced mushrooms and the tomatoes cut into small pieces, stir a few times, add the sweet paprika and cook everything for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Step 6After this time, add the rice and stir to combine it with the sofrito for a couple of minutes. Next, add the peas and the washed and chopped green beans 3 cm, stir again, and then add the boiling water. Add salt and saffron, stir briefly, and finally, garnish the paella by arranging the strips of bell pepper on top in a radial pattern.
- Step 7When the broth starts to boil, turn off the heat and transfer the paella to the preheated oven, placing it on the second rack from the bottom. Let it cook for 20 minutes.
- Step 8After this time, take the paella out of the oven and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Then it is ready to serve.