Samphire and olive paella

I had been planning making a vegan paella for a while now, as I wanted to get rid of two open paella rice packets in my cupboard. Don't ask me why I had two, it was some unfortunate oversight when shopping and cooking. At least after cooking this paella I could feel good about myself for having used all of the rice. So no paella in this household for a while.

This greenish samphire and olive paella turned out to be very nice. It may have been a bit late in the season, as it may be more of a summer dish, but I still made it. I always just make my paella on the stovetop, the liquid smoke and the other seasonings added enough smokiness to the dish.

Here is my recipe.

Ingredients

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

1 cup paella rice

1 cup dry sherry

Cayenne pepper to taste

Smoked paprika to taste

1 tsp saffron threads

200 g tomatoes

1 l vegetable stock

2 bay leaves

1 tsp liquid smoke

½ cup fresh samphire

230 g Spanish green and black olives

Lemon infused olive oil to taste

Method

Chop the onion and garlic finely and start cooking the onion in oil. Add the garlic to the pan once the onions are soft and slightly browned.

Chop the bell peppers into small cubes and add them to the pan. After a while of cooking, also stir in the paella rice and pour the sherry in.

Let the sherry mostly absorb and season the mix. Then add chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock into the pan and let simmer under lid.

Keep stirring so that the rice doesn't stick. Cook until all done. Just before serving, add the samphire, olives and lemon infused olive oil.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog