This meat-free paella honours the spirit of the traditional paella Valenciana. Mushrooms provide the meaty component, alongside very traditional ingredients such as artichokes, beans, and sweet pepper.
Types of paella
When I make a version of a dish that is as deeply meaningful to a culture as paella is to the Spanish, I really try to understand the essence of the dish. While I realise that producing a vegan or vegetarian version does change the character of a dish, I do believe that, for many dishes, you can still retain the spirit of the dish. At its heart, paella is a rice dish, so I really believe that the veggie version can still be called paella.
As the lore goes, paella was traditionally a dish that was prepared in the fields by workers near the city of Valencia. They would bring rice with them and cook the paella over open fires, often made with the prunings of the orange groves. If the picture of cooking over the open fire in a Spanish orange grove is not enough to make you crave something that evokes that spirit, I don’t know what to tell you.
There are two traditional types of paella: paella valenciana contains meat and vegetables such as artichokes, beans, and peppers; and paella de marisco, which is seafood paella. There are other non-traditional types such as paella mixta, which contains both meat and seafood. This is not traditional and is mainly aimed at tourists. There are also there is paella negra, a seafood paella coloured with squid ink. We will be making vegetable paella inspired by the flavours of the paella Valenciana
What ingredients define paella?
There are three ingredients that every self-respecting paella recipe has in common: The right rice, saffron, and smoked paprika. Let’s start with the most fundamental ingredient of paella: The rice. You need a shortgrain rice to get the right consistency. The ideal would be a Spanish variety grown near Valencia. You are looking for a rice that can absorb a lot of liquid (and hence a lot of flavour) and still keep its structure. The prized variety of rice is arroz bomba. If you can’t get hold of a Spanish variety, Italian arborio rice is your next best bet. Just note that the texture you are aiming for is very different to risotto. Where a risotto is stirred to create a creamy consistency, the rice in paella is left undisturbed.
Next, saffron. Try to get your hands on saffron. Interesting fact – Spain grows about 70% of the world’s saffron. It contributes colour and a delicate flavour to the dish. Yes, turmeric also gives rice a similar colour, but don’t underestimate how different the flavours are.
Then, the paprika. Smoked paprika comes in two types: sweet and hot. For this, you want sweet smoked paprika. Again, try to get the right stuff, otherwise, you drift away from the intent of the dish. A rice dish with basmati rice, turmeric and plain paprika may well be tasty, but it won’t be paella. Also, don’t go overboard on the paprika – it is a strong flavour, and it can easily.
For the rest of the ingredients, I would say that there is a bit more flexibility. The herb of choice in many recipes seem to be rosemary, and I think it complements the other ingredients nicely. Traditional recipes would have some form of chicken. If you fry and season oyster mushrooms correctly, they have a meaty flavour and texture and make a great substitute in this application. I’ve rounded of the ingredients with red bell peppers, green beans, and artichokes. I also added some canned fava beans – they are a bit hard to find, so substitute them with another bean. My choice would be borlotti beans.
The pan makes the paella
While I don’t think you need to rush out to buy a specific paella pan to make a good version of the dish, you do need to give some thought to the utensil. You need to aim to have a fairly thin layer of rice in the finished product – maybe 2-3 centimetres (about an inch). The purists prefer a fairly thin carbon steel pan. I have cooked mine in a traditional pan, as well as a carbon steel pan, and I was happy with the results of both. You want to avoid a deep, high sided pot.
I think now is also the time to talk about another component of the paella – the layer of toasted rice at the bottom of the paella. This is called the socarrat. Seasoned carbon steel seems to work well to encourage the crust to form, while also not sticking too badly that you can release the crust to eat it.
Vegetarian paella with artichokes
Equipment
- paella pan, or another large, flat pan
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 400 g oyster mushrooms
- 2 large red sweet peppers
- 2 large plum tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 pinch saffron
- ½ cup boiling water to soak saffron in
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 jar artichokes
- 1 bag green beans
- 1 can fava beans
- sprig rosemary
- 2 cups paella rice
- 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 1 whole Lemon cut into wedges to serve
Instructions
Do your mise en place
- There are times when I just prep things on the go, but this recipe really responds well to having everything ready to go when the pan goes on to the heat. Things move quickly, and it pays to have things ready.
- Soak the saffron in boiling water. This is important, or the flavour and colour won't stpreadthrough the dish as it should.
- Remove any tough stems from the oyster mushrooms
- Cut the top of the red peppers, halve them, then slice into strips lenght wise.
- Chop the tomato into a very fine dice. It should pretty much be a pulp.
- Slice the green beans into pieces.
- Heat your stock.
- Drain the artichokes and canned beans
Start frying
- Heat olive oil in the pan. Add the mushrooms, frying them until they are well brown. Press down on them with a spatula to get even browning and to release moisture. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper.
- Remove the mushrooms to a plate, and add the red peppers. Fry the peppers until they have coloured a bit. Return the mushrooms to the pan, and add the tomato and garlic. Stir for a minute, then add the artichokes, green beans, canned beans and smoked paprika. Stir to mix. Add the paella rice, and stir to mix the rice with the other ingredients. Now, add the vegetable stock and saffron water.
Cook the rice
- Bring the liquid to a boil, and then reduce the heat a little (you want a vigorous simmer). Don't stir the rice. You may need to turn the heat down just a little as the liquid evaporates. All the liquid should be absorbed by the end, and the rice should be cooked but not too soft. You can add a little more water or stock if the rice is not cooked to your liking by the time the liquid has evaporated. This should take about 20 mins.
- When the liquid has evaporated, turn the heat low and let the rice toast for a minute or two. Here you have to rely on your senses -it should smell toasty not burnt. Remove from heat and serve!