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

Sea vegetable paella

I'm continuing with the sea theme on the blog after yesterday's Jurassic Coast post. When I detected a mix of different sea vegetables in the shop, it was clear to me that I had to buy them. The mix contained samphire, sea aster and okahijiki. First I was contemplating a Japanese style tofu dish, but went with a paella idea instead. This sea vegetable paella was absolutely tasty and great summer food as well. Have a look at how I made it.

Ingredients

300 g baby bell peppers

2 onions

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp ground turmeric

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

2 bay leaves

150 g paella rice

150 ml sherry

1 tsp saffron threads

450 ml vegetable stock

15 mini plum tomatoes

20 black olives

2 tsp salt

80 g mix of samphire, sea aster and okahijiki

Method

Chop the peppers, onions and garlic and start cooking them in olive oil.

Add the spices and the paella rice. Then also add the sherry and let it absorb a little.

Add the vegetable stock and mini plum tomatoes into the pan and let simmer under the lid until the rice is cooked.

Towards the end add the olives, salt and the sea vegetables.

Serve instantly and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Vegetable paella with bell peppers, broad beans and black olives

A mixed vegetable paella has been in the planning for a while for me, and for the first one I'd ever cook, I thought I'd better follow a recipe. My partner has been a little reluctant whenever I've been suggesting a vegetable paella, but now I finally got my way, and of course in the end he loved it, too!

I adapted this dish from Ottolenghi's Multi-vegetable Paella recipe in Plenty (p. 80-81), which has also been published in The Guardian. I do find that Ottolenghi cooks just perfect food for this season, and that's why I have been following more of his recipes again lately.

I made some alterations to the paella ingredients, but pretty much followed the method in the recipe. I'm posting my own version below. Mine is kind of a basic vegetable paella, but it was so nice – smoky and full of vegetables – and I will be cooking it again. I guess the Ottolenghi version is more spectacular, but I liked mine as well.

So here's how I made my Vegetable paella with bell peppers, broad beans and black olives.

Ingredients

2 shallots

2 garlic cloves

2 bell peppers

2 tbsp olive oil

2 bay leaves

150 g paella rice

150 ml sherry

450 ml vegetable stock

200 g broad beans

15-20 black olives

12-15 mini plum tomatoes

4 lemon wedges

¼ tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp ground turmeric

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp saffron threads

Salt to taste

Method

Chop the shallots and bell peppers into long thin strips and the garlic finely.

Heat up the vegetable stock.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the onions for a few minutes.

Add the peppers and after a while the garlic.

Then add the bay leaves, paprika, turmeric, cayenne pepper and the paella rice.

Stir through for a couple of minutes before adding the sherry and saffron.

Let cook for a couple of minutes and add the vegetable stock and little salt to taste.

Simmer the open pan for about 20 minutes until the rice is cooked and most liquid has been absorbed. Avoid stirring, and this is what makes paella quite different from a risotto.

In the meanwhile prepare the broad beans by boiling them and then removing the skins. These will be added just before serving so that they can just heat through.

Cut the mini plum tomatoes in halves and scatter them and the olives into the pan. I also added the lemon wedges at this stage, but you can also add them for serving only, if you prefer.

Let it all rest under the lid for about 10 minutes. Add any of the spices to taste, if you are not happy with it yet.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Your VegHog