Multi Vegetable Paella

I realised when I got back from Paris that I hadn't had any veg at all whilst I was there. Plenty of salad but no veg. They don't really do veg and it's hard to get in restaurants anywhere unless you pay extra for a side dish. So when I got home I really went for the veg. I made Ottolenghi's multi veg paella which was so so good. Packed full of veg from peppers and fennel to artichokes and olives and it was just scrummy. I have had so much luck with this cookbook, all of the recipes I've made so far have worked out perfectly.

Multi Vegetable Paella (from Plenty - Ottolenghi)
(Serves 2-3)

3 tbsp olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
1 small red pepper, deseeded and cut into thin strips 
1 small yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into thin strips
1 small fennel bulb, cut into strips 
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne
150g paella rice 
100ml sherry
1 tsp saffron strands
450ml boiling vegetable stock
salt
12 mini plum tomatoes 
5 small grilled jarred artichokes, quartered 
200g podded broad beans, blanched and skinned
15 pitted black olives
2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
4 lemon wedges, to serve


Heat up the olive oil in a paella pan, or a large shallow frying pan, and gently fry the onion for 5 mins. Add the peppers and fennel and continue to fry on a medium heat for about 6 mins, or until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for a further min.

Add the bay leaves, paprika, turmeric and cayenne to the vegetables and stir well. Then add the rice and stir thoroughly for 2 mins before adding the sherry and saffron. Boil down for a min, then add the stock and teaspoon salt. Reduce the heat to the minimum and simmer very gently for about 20 mins, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Do not cover the pan and don't stir the rice during the cooking. 

Meanwhile, pour plenty of boiling water over the broad beans in a bowl and leave for a minute, then drain well and leave to cool down. Now squeeze each bean gently to remove the skin and discard it.

Remove the paella pan from the heat. Taste and add more salt if needed but without stirring the rice and vegetables much. Scatter the tomatoes, artichokes and broad beans over the rice and cover the pan tightly with foil. Leave to rest for 10 mins. Take off the foil. Scatter the olives on top of the paella and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with wedges of lemon.

Chicken and Snail Paella

I knew I was going to have to change a paella recipe as there weren't many out there for paella with snails in or they had a rabbit in too and those that I could find were American and I couldn't be bothered to convert. So I used a Jamie recipe for a relatively quick paella, most other took upwards of an hour and went from there. I changed the recipe quite a lot but it still came out rather tasty, lightly spiced full of veggies.

Chicken and Snail Paella (adapted from Jamie Oliver)

(Serves 6)

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
70g snails
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, roughly chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika

1/2 tsp hot paprika

1 red pepper
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1 cube chicken stock
300g paella rice
100g frozen peas
100g green beans, chopped in half
1 lemon

Pour the  oil into a large lidded shallow casserole or paella pan on a medium heat, add the garlic, onion, carrot, parsley stalks, chicken and paprikas, and fry for around 5 mins, stirring regularly. Deseed and chop the pepper, then add with the snails to the pan for a further 5 mins.

Stir through the tomato purée and crumble in the stock cube, then add the rice and stir for a couple of mins. Pour in 750ml of boiling water and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Put the lid on and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 mins, stirring regularly from the outside in and from the inside out, and adding a splash of water if needed. Stir in the peas and beans, replace the lid, and cook for a further 5 mins, or until hot. Season, scatter the parsley leaves over the paella, and serve with lemon wedges on the side for squeezing over.