Vegan Paella
Indulge on this meat free vegan style paella. A combination of seasoning, herbs, spices and a medley of vegetables all prepared on a gigantic paella pan. I'm talking about lip smacking, bold aromatic flavours all in one serving.
Servings 6 people
Calories 350kcal
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon saffron threads
- 2 tbso olive oil
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 8 pimento seeds ¼ teaspoon allspice
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 scallion chopped
- 1 small red onion sliced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1½ cups brown short grain bomba rice
- 1 small yellow bell pepper sliced
- 1 small red bell pepper sliced
- 1 cup mushrooms sliced
- ½ cho cho chopped
- 1 cup pumpkin chopped
- 1 cup sweet potato chopped
- 5 sprigs of thyme
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon himalayan pink salt according to taste
- 1 cup sweet green peas
- 1 scotch bonnet whole
- juice of a lime
- additional pink salt (if needed) and thyme for garnish
Instructions
- Combine the vegetable stock with the saffron threads in a saucepan, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes and set aside.
- Meanwhile heat your paella pan on medium heat (can use an old skillet) with olive oil then temper the cinnamon stick and pimento (allspice) until the aroma is released.
- Add the bay leaf and continue to temper for another 30 seconds.
- And the red onion, scallion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent.
- Proceed to add the bell peppers and mushrooms then cook until softened, this should take roughly 3-4 minutes.
- Fold the cho cho, pumpkin and sweet potatoes pieces into the pan, don't forget to maneuver/rotate the pan during cooking.
- Season the entire pan by adding with the thyme stems, paprika, black pepper and pink salt.
- Add the bomba rice and stir to combine with the vegetables and seasoning.
- Gradually add the saffron infused stock to the paella, start by adding ⅓ of the stock leaving a 3-4 minute interval while the rice absorbs the first portion of liquid.....STIR ONCE ONLY!
- Then add the remaining stock to the pan.
- Finally sprinkle the green peas along with the scotch bonnet and simmer for 10-15 minutes on low heat until the rice has cooked and absorbed the stock. During the given time the socarrat will form quite nicely (you should hear it cackle and smell the aroma, it shouldn't be burning)
- After the given time turn off the heat, cover the pan with foil andleave to rest for 5 minutes.
- Remove the foil before serving (do a taste test and add additional pink salt if needed).
- Don't forgot to squeeze some lime over the top and garnish with further thyme (remove the bay leaf and cinnamon too).
Nutrition
Calories: 350kcal | Carbohydrates: 73g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 802mg | Potassium: 835mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 13229IU | Vitamin C: 132mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 3mg