Paella
is Spain’s version of pulau or pilaf - as you can guess from the
name. Although everyone associates it with shellfish, oddly
enough, seafood isn’t always included, but on the other hand meat
is, so this version could hardly be described as authentic.
However, I have tried to use the traditional method and seasoning.
Paella can contain a number of different vegetables such as green
beans or fresh broad beans. A lot of veg~an cooks add
artichokes, but I can always taste the vinegar that has been added to
the jars and I feel this would not improve the flavour. Many
paella include white beans of one sort or another so I’ve included
cooked cannellini beans (very popular in Spain), but broad, lima,
haricot or any white bean would all work well. You can leave
them out altogether if you want: I do when the weather is really hot
and I have less appetite.
One
of the ways in which paella is similar to Persian pilaf is that it is
cooked in such a way that the rice at the bottom of the pan forms a
crust, know as socarrat.
This is full of flavour and adds to this already delicious
dish. All the cookery books tell you that this crust won’t
form if you use a non-stick frying pan: that may well be correct if
you have one coated in Teflon, but my Spanish Valira
frying pan/skillet apparently has a multi-layer non-stick surface
made from titanium (!) and this certainly allows for the socarrat
to develop.
I reckon you need to be reasonably generous with the olive oil,
but, more importantly, once you’ve added the water, don’t
stir it.
If you do, you’ll lift up the rice that’s at the bottom of the
pan and the socarrat
will have to start all over again. However, don’t worry it
it doesn't
form: the paella will still be yummy.
As
a reality check, for voyagers who don’t want to make or buy sausage
of some description, I’ve tried leaving out the sausage. It still
tastes fantastic. In fact, I’m often too lazy to make chorizo, and the photo shows an alternative with no sausage and with chick peas instead of white beans.
Serves
2
Ingredients
1/2
tsp saffron threads, crumbled
1
tbsp white wine or water
1/4
cup freeze-dried peas
2
veg~an Italian sausages or 1/2 Chorizo,
thickly sliced
olive
oil
1
small onion, diced
1
small red bell pepper, cut into strips
2
cloves garlic, chopped, minced or crushed
a
handful of green beans cut into 30 mm lengths
1
medium tomato, diced
1
tbsp capers
1/2
teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2
teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2
tsp thyme
1/4
tsp cayenne
3/4
cups Spanish or arborio rice
1
1/2 cups water
1/2
cup of cooked cannellini beans
1/2
tsp sea salt
1
tsp mushroom stock powder
black
pepper to taste
fresh
parsley
Method:
- Put the water or white wine into a bowl. If it’s cold, try and warm it a little to help infuse the saffron. Add the crumbled strands to the bowl and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, add the peas to ¼ cup lightly-salted water, cover, bring to the boil and turn off the heat. Set aside. Or pour boiling water over the pea and add a little salt.
- Before starting on the paella itself, and assuming you only have one large frying pan or skillet, cook the slices of sausage in this now, in some olive oil. Fry both sides until slightly crisp and then remove them from the pan onto a plate. An additional advantage of doing this now is that the remaining oil adds additional flavour to the paella.
- Heat a little more oil in a the pan, over a medium heat. Once heated, add the onions and peppers. Sauté until softened and lightly browned, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and sauté for a further minute.
- If you are using them, add the green beans.
- Now add the tomato, capers, smoked paprika, sweet paprika and thyme. Sauté for a couple of minutes.
- Put a little more oil in the pan and add the rice. Stir everything thoroughly so that everything is well mixed and all the grains of rice coated with the various seasonings. Lightly toast the rice for a minute or so until it’s just starting to stick.
- Now add the water, salt, pepper, mushroom stock, saffron plus its water and the cannellini beans. Now add your sausage pieces and stir quickly to ensure everything is evenly distributed. Bring to a slow boil.
- Turn the heat down and keep an eye on the pan for a few minutes. You want the liquid to be just moving, but not boiling. The rice should take about 20 minutes to cook. If all the liquid is absorbed at 15 minutes, carefully add another ¼ cup of water.
- After 20 minutes, all the water should be absorbed and the rice should be cooked – this rice is not as soft as risotto, but certainly you don’t want it al dente.
- By now you should be able to hear a gentle crackling as the socarrat forms and there should be a nice toasty smell. If it doesn’t happen, well it doesn’t happen. With luck, practice will make perfect. The problem with this sort of recipe is that it does rather depend on variables like how absorbent the rice is, how hot your burner is and the quality of the frying pan. But if there is no lovely, crusty rice, the paella will still be very good.
- When you are sure that the rice is cooked, turn the heat down as low as it can go (and/or put the pan on a flame-tamer). This will allow the crust to keep on forming. Take out a teaspoon or so of paella and check the salt. If it needs more, sprinkle some over the whole pan – there’s still time for it to be absorbed.
- Spread the drained peas over the top of the rice (don't mix in). Cover the pan and and let the paella stand for 5 minutes or so. If there’s the slightest smell of burning, turn off the flame.
- Once the peas are heated through, turn off the flame and sprinkle chopped, fresh parsley over everything, should you be lucky enough to have some. Grind some more black pepper over the top and then serve on hot plates.
Notes:
- If you don’t have mushroom stock powder, leave it out. The mushroom adds a nice earthy taste you won’t get from other stock powders.
- Saffron gives the paella its distinct flavour and colour. Well, certainly the colour: with ingredients like sausage and tomato, it doesn’t always come through. I suspect real paella has a greater proportion of rice than this recipe. However, you can’t be mean with it, if you want to be able to taste it. Saffron also happens to be a shocking price and some would say a very wasteful crop, seeing that only the stamens are taken from a zillion crocuses. (However, the fields must look gorgeous when they flower!) If either of these reasons puts you off using saffron, substitute a ¼ tsp turmeric, which will give you a similar, lovely colour. Bear in mind that the flavour is not only different, but quite noticeable, so only use as much as you need to colour the rice.
- This recipe really needs freeze-dried peas (or, I suppose, if you are voyaging on a rather larger income, frozen). These are readily available in many countries and, as long as the locker doesn’t get too hot, keep well for several years. Apparently they still retain a lot of their nutrients, so are more than just a pretty addition. If you don’t have them, try and add something else green, to keep the paella looking attractive. You could substitute half the red pepper for green and add some diced carrot, if you don’t have anything beyond the normal vegetables on board.
- The green beans are a traditional addition but not always easy for sailors to find. I have successfully used thinly-sliced carrots to add to the variety.
- If you have no fresh tomato, you can use one from a tin, or ¼ cup diced tomatoes from a can, or some tomato purée (in which case, add it with the water).
- Mushrooms can be used instead of the white beans if you don’t want the paella to be too filling, but I don’t feel they really go too well with everything else in this instance.
- Chick peas substitute well for white beans, and are, of course, very popular in Spain.
- Swiss chard is also a good addition and can stand in for the peas and/or beans if necessary. I realise that it’s far from being a voyaging vegetable, but it will keep up to a week if bought very fresh and treated with care.
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