In January, I made the bold purchase of a paella pan. And to follow up that self-described "bold" move, I attempted my first paella…7 months later. Unfortunately, it was not a wait well worth it — the result of my impromptu paella was bland, and there were LOTS of leftovers (though I admit all of the leftovers were consumed with lots of Sriracha, which certainly made it tastier). In any case though, it was a good way to use a lot of random CSA veggies, even if it meant eating them with a lot of Sriracha.
Below the picture, I provide the ingredients I used and directions, followed by tips that I think will help make the paella tastier next time (and no vegetarian paella skeptics, none of those tips involve using meat!).
Ingredients (for approximately 6 – 8 servings)
- 5 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 large green bell pepper, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch strips
- 1 medium orange bell pepper, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch strips
- Approx. 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 tsp. saffron
- 1 small jalapeno, chopped
- 1/4 tsp. paprika
- 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1 cup brown basmati rice (only because I realized I only had one cup of arborio)
- Olive oil
Directions
1) Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2) Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in paella pan on medium-high heat (you may need to use two burners depending on the size of your paella pan.
3) Add garlic and onion, and saute for approximately 5 minute until the onions cook down.
4) Add the sliced bell peppers, jalapeno and tomatoes and cook for approximately another five minutes.
5) Add rice, saffron and paprika, stirring to incorporate rice into the entire vegetable mix. Saute for 2 minutes.
6) Add in the vegetable broth, stirring and increasing heat to high, and cook until the liquid starts to boil.
7) Place pan into oven uncovered, and cook for approximately 25 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed and rice is cooked.
8) Serve immediately.
Preliminary Improvement Tips
Thanks to the advice of my friend Jonathan, it seems I can attribute a good chunk of the paella blandness to dramatic underspicing. I should have used a few tsps. of pimenton instead of traditional paprika, and used more saffron (and crumbled it) and salt. Additionally, I should have definitely just stuck with a cooking a smaller amount of rice, and using only the arborio or other medium-grain rices because not only do they cook faster, they also are the necessary component to building the traditional paella "crust". I also think I should have been more diligent about using two burners for my large paella pan to more evenly distribute high heat throughout the cooking, as well as using a higher heat (e.g., Bittman's recommended 450 degrees for his tomato paella recipe) to better achieve the crust as well.
I'll definitely report back after I attempt another round of paella!
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