Ottelenghi's Multi-vegetable Paella

Straight from the pages of my treasured Ottolenghi recipe book 'Plenty', this was my second ever attempt at paella and by far the best of the two. The trick with paella is to leave it well alone while the rice cooks. A hard task, but it just won't work properly if you insist on stirring.

You could substitute the veggies for what is in season, I had a delicious paella the other day with big chunks of butternut squash and eggplant. Delicious.

Also note - while saffron is expensive, a little goes a long way and it makes all the difference to both the look and taste of the dish.

Ingredients:

A drizzle of olive oil

2 small shallots, sliced

1 small red and 1 small yellow capsicum, cut into strips

1/2 fennel bulb, cut into very thin strips

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp chilli powder

150g paella rice

100ml sweet or medium sherry

A good pinch of saffron threads

450ml boiling veg stock

A pinch of salt

200g shelled broad beans (frozen are fine)

10 mini plum (or cheery) tomatoes, halved

5 small grilled artichokes in oil (from a jar) drained and quartered

12 pitted Kalamata olives, roughly crushed

2 Tbs roughly chopped parsley

To serve...

Lemon wedges and salt

To make:

1) Heat the olive in a large, shallow frying pan and gently fry the onions for about 5 minutes, stirring. Add the capsicums and fennel, continue to fry for about 6 minutes until the veges arte soft and the onions golden. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

2) Add the bay leaves, paprika, turmeric and chilli powder and stir well. Then add the rice and stir well for 2 minutes (you really want to get all the rice coated in the flavours) then pour in the sherry and sprinkle the saffron in.

3) Boil down for a minute, then pour in the stock and pinch of salt. Turn the heat down to the minimum and let it gently simmer for about 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. DO NOT cover or stir during this time.

4) While you leave the rice to cook, keep yourself busy by pouring plenty of boiling water over the broad beans in a bowl and leave them for a minute or two. Drain and leave to cool, then when cool enough to handle, squeeze each bean until it pops out of the skin. Discard the skins.

5) Take the paella off the heat and taste - add more salt if needed, but try not to stir the mix. Scatter the tomatoes, artichokes and broad beans over the rice and cover with a lid or foil. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.

6) Remove the covering, scatter over the olives and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with the lemon wedges.

Serves 2 very well.