Vegetable Paella

Ingredients

• 2 cups Arborio rice, or Spanish bomba rice
• 5 cups Low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 pinch Saffron threads
• 4 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Yellow onion, finely diced
• 2 Red bell pepper, one diced, one in strips
• 5 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp Tomato paste
• 2 tsp Smoked paprika
• 1 can Artichoke hearts, canned, quartered
• 2 cups Green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 can Cannellini beans, canned no-salt-added, drained
• 1 ¼ tsp Kosher salt
• 1 Lemon, wedges
• ¼ cup Flat-leaf parsley

Method

1. Warm the broth with the crushed saffron and keep it hot. Cold broth added to a paella stops the cooking dead.
2. Build the sofrito: oil in the wide pan over medium, onion and diced pepper for 8 minutes, garlic for 1, then tomato paste fried until brick-dark, 2 minutes. Add the smoked paprika off the heat so it does not burn.
3. Add the rice and stir it through the sofrito for 1 minute so every grain is coated.
4. Pour in the hot broth, add the salt, and spread everything into an even layer. From this moment do not stir the rice again — stirring makes risotto, and this is not risotto.
5. Simmer briskly 10 minutes. Arrange the green beans, artichokes, white beans and pepper strips over the top, drop the heat to low, and cook 10 minutes more, turning the pan if your burner has hot spots.
6. When the liquid is gone, turn the heat up for 60-90 seconds and listen: a crackle means the socarrat is forming. When you can smell toast, stop.
7. Cover with a towel and rest 5 minutes. Serve from the pan with lemon and parsley, and scrape the bottom.

Notes

✨ The restaurant touch

A wide, thin layer of rice is the whole point of a paella pan. In a deep pot you are making a rice casserole, which is nice, but it is not this.

🧒 For the kids

The crusty bottom is the part children like best. Serve them the scrapings.

🥡 Leftovers

Keeps 3 days. Reheat in a dry skillet to bring some crust back.

Per serving

Computed from USDA FoodData Central values. A planning tool, not medical advice.