Vegetarian Paella

Last month I was in Barcelona and I took a cooking class with my mom. In our class we made a seafood paella with fresh ingredients we bought at La Bouqeria. I was not a good vegan and I definetly enjoyed the paella we made - squid, clams, shrimp and all. We used a monster paella pan over a gas burner to make enough for the entire class to enjoy.

I came home with a brand new (and much smaller) paella pan but have been hesitant to try it out. I was afraid that a vegan paella would pale in comparison to the one I had in Barcelona. I finally found a recipe that I was willing to give a shot in Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook, Notes from my Kitchen Table.

Definetly not an easy recipe but I was impressed by its outcome. I halved the garlic called for and doubled the vegetable broth. I also used a few generous splashes of white wine as needed to ensure the rice was fully cooked.

Ingredients
1 litre Vegetable Stock
2 dried shiitake or porcini mushrooms
10 cloves garlic, 4 crushed and 6 finely chopped
Large pinch saffron
1/2 teaspoon sweet pimenton (paprika)
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large eggplant cut into 3 inch thick slices, ends discarded
1/2 cup olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 large tomato
2 red peppers, seeds and stem removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
1.5 cups of white risotto rice
8 small artichokes, trimmed and steamed for 20 minutes, cut in half and chokes discarded (I actually skipped this and added a bag of frozen artichokes from trader joes)
1 cup frozen peas
3 lemons, 2 cut into wedges


Directions:
Combine the stock with the mushrooms and the 4 cloves of crushed garlic in a large saucepan and boil over high heat for 10 minutes.

Lower the heat, add the saffron and pimenton and simmer for an additional 10 minutes to thoroughly combine the flavours.

The secret to this recipe is a well-seasoned broth, so season to taste with salt and pepper and more saffron and/or pimenton if necessary.Keep warm over a low heat.
Meanwhile, prepare the aubergine. Sprinkle both sides of the aubergine slices with a bit of salt and lay them between sheets of kitchen paper for at least 15 minutes.
Cut the aubergine into 1 inch pieces.

Heat half the olive oil in a large sauté pan set over medium heat and cook 2 cloves of the chopped garlic until fragrant, about a minute.

Add the pieces of aubergine to the pan and cook for 12–15 minutes, stirring now and then, until browned and softened. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a 40–45cm paella pan over high heat until just beginning to smoke.

Turn the heat down to medium, add the onion and the 4 remaining cloves of chopped garlic, and cook, stirring, until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.

Coarsely grate in the tomato, discarding the skin. Stir together and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add the peppers and continue to cook the vegetables together until softened, another 10 minutes.

Stir in the cooked eggplant. When you're ready to roll, place the paella pan with the vegetables over high heat and pour the rice into the pan in an even cross.
Add the stock and stir to combine everything. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat to a simmer.

Arrange the artichokes and peas on top and simmer until the rice is cooked through, about 35 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat source, cover with a large piece of foil and let it sit undisturbed for 15 minutes.

Squeeze the juice of the lemon over the paella.



Note: I learned during my cooking class that you are not supposed to stir paella after the rice has been added and it is cooking. Instead you should lightly push the rice away from the bottom of the pan with a wooden flat spoon, just to make sure it is not sticking. Do this every couple of minutes.