We have already explained the basics of what makes a paella and the techniques used to prepare it both here and here for a paella with mushrooms. We recommend reading that first and then applying the same techniques again and again.
Today, there is another vegetarian or vegan option, namely a paella made entirely from vegetables. This is more common in Spain than you might think and is therefore completely authentic. It’s up to you which vegetables you use. Artichokes and green asparagus would be typical, but neither were available today. Instead, we were able to buy broad beans, which are almost always available in Spain. It is important to cook the vegetables correctly, as the cooking times for courgettes and beans, for example, differ considerably.
As we have already explained, the broth is the invisible backbone of a paella, so the first thing we do is cook a basic broth with celeriac, carrots, leeks, and parsley. You can find a comprehensive article on how to prepare a good vegetable broth here.
You will also need the typical ingredients for paella. In addition to the right type of rice, these include plenty of olive oil, salt, garlic, tomato purée, Spanish smoked paprika powder, and saffron. Here, we explain how to prepare salmorreta, a spice paste specifically for paella. We freeze it in ice cube trays and will be using it today as well.
Today we are cooking with courgettes, which are very soft vegetables. So first we fry slices of courgette in olive oil over medium heat until they brown. Then we set them aside, otherwise they would become completely overcooked.
Next, the firmer vegetables are added to the pan, which in our case today are broad beans and peppers. We would also sauté carrots at this point, for example. A little browning is desired. We add the white parts of the spring onions a little later, as they need less time to cook.
Next, we add the green part of spring onions and roughly chopped garlic, both of which should only be sautéed briefly.
Then follow tomato purée (in our case, salmorreta as well), vegetable stock and saffron. Stir well and use a wooden spoon to scrape off the brown residue from the bottom of the pan – it’s all flavour. Simmer gently for 10 minutes to allow the stock to absorb the flavour of the sautéed vegetables.
Unlike other paella recipes, the rice is not sautéed briefly before adding the stock. It is more important to extract the full flavour of the vegetables so that this paella also has the usual deep aromas at the end.
After 10 minutes, we sprinkle the rice into the pan and also add the broccoli now, so that it does not cook for too long and fall apart.
The rice takes almost exactly 18 minutes. Stir everything thoroughly once so that it is well distributed. From now on, stirring is forbidden; at most, the pan can be jostled a little to distribute the ingredients. As with the mushroom paella, we let the whole thing cook for 10 minutes on medium-high heat, then reduce the temperature to medium to slowly finish cooking the rice. Now we add our sautéed courgette slices back into the pan.
Depending on the pan and heat source, you may need to cover the paella briefly, as we have also described in the recipe for paella de setas. Allow the finished dish to rest for a few minutes before serving. This will also loosen the best part of a paella, the socarrat, the crispy crust at the bottom of the pan.
Enjoy.
And may the taste be with you.
Ingredients ( for 4 people):
8 tablespoons olive oil (best quality, extra virgin)
Seasonal vegetables according to taste, for example artichokes, aubergine, cauliflower, beans, broccoli, carrots, peppers, green asparagus, courgettes, onion
Approx. 2 tsp salt
4 cloves of garlic
4 tsp Spanish smoked paprika powder (Pimentón de la Vera)
100 g tomato purée
Optional: 2 – 3 tbsp salmorreta
1.6 litres vegetable stock
0.4 g saffron (0.1 g per person – approx. 15 threads)
400 g paella rice (we use arroz bomba)
