Spring Vegetable Paella

Paella is a delicious thing - and is also a deliciously easy thing to make at home in a pan. Is particularly good served with some sliced tomatoes, onions, parsley and a big wedge of lemon.

Ingredients

  • 250g Bomba Paella Rice
  • 900 ml Chicken or Veg Stock
  • 1 Onion
  • 1 Leek
  • 1 Courgette
  • 1 or 2 Yellow Pepper/s
  • Broccoli or Spinach Leaves
  • 5 Cloves Garlic
  • Glass White Wine
  • Parsley (to serve)
  • Lemon (to serve)

Wash and slice the Onion, Pepper, Leek, Courgette

Wash the Broccoli or Spinach

[I used Broccoli from my garden... it was very small and thin! Spinach or Kale would be a good substitute for such weedy Broccoli... OR you could slice bigger Broccoli into slices that don't need much cooking...]

Crush or finely chop the Garlic

In a frying pan (30cm ish) – heat some Olive Oil and gently fry the Onions, Peppers, Leeks and Courgettes for 10 – 20 minutes – stirring a lot until they are soft and sweet.  Add the Garlic and cook for a few more minutes.  Add the glass of White Wine, and cook off the alcohol…

[At this point you can either keep the Onion mixture (Sofrito) until later - or you can go on to cook the Paella, which takes 20 mins from now on!]

Stir in the Bomba Rice, coating it in the Oil from the Sofrito.  Carefully add 900ml of good quality Chicken or Veg Stock and bring to the boil (season with Salt & Pepper now)

On a medium heat, cook for 15 mins or until there is only a little liquid around the Rice, and the bottom is sticking slightly (might even sound crunchy).  Don’t stir whilst cooking – but do test the Rice after 15 mins to make sure it is cooked but with some bite left (it could have a couple more minutes on the heat if not cooked yet)

When done, turn off the heat, squash the Broccoli or Spinach leaves into the top of the Paella and leave to stand for 3 – 5 minutes.  By this stage, the Rice will be deliciously cooked and your greens will have wilted.  Sprinkle chopped Parsley over everything and enjoy!

Serve this healthy Paella with a large wedge of Lemon or Lime and Tomatoes in whatever form you fancy… sliced, with coriander or with chopped onion too

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