Spring vegetable paella
( Paella vegetariana di primavera)

Recipe for spring vegetarian paella

Preparation and cooking

• - Eliminate asparagus ends, often hard and woody, and wash them.
  Steam asparagus using at least 500ml (1 pint - 2 cups) water.
  Read how to steam them even if you dont have the special pot, below in "Tips".
• - Shell peas and put apart.
• - Shell fava beans.
  Remove their outer skin too and put apart.
• - Pour 2.5 liters (5 1/4 pints) water in a pot and bring to a boil.
  Add peas and cook for 10 minutes from when the water starts boiling again.
  Remove peas with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  Add fava beans in the same water and cook for about 10 minutes from when the water starts boiling again.
  Cooking time depends on fava bean size.
  Remove fava beans with the slotted spoon and set aside.
• - Add the water you've used to steam asparagus to the pan and season to taste with salt.
• - Halve asparagus.
  Purée their ends and slice ​​remaining parts.
• - Clean artichokes by removing their stem and snapping off their dark-green outer leaves until you can see pale leaves.
  Cut off their tops.
  Eliminate possibly their hayry portion covering the choke.
  Slice each artichoke and dip them immediately in water, acidulated with lemon.
  
• - Put olive oil in a paella pan or in a low and wide pan.
  You can also use a rice cooker.
• - Chop spring onions and add them together with bay leaf to the pan with olive oil.
• - Sauté over medium heat for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
• - Meanwhile, bring to a boil again the broth where you've cooked legumes and asparagus.
• - Add artichokes, well drained, and stir to season them.
  Continue cooking artichokes for a few minutes.
• - Add rice too.
  Sauté it, stirring occasionally.
• - Begin adding some ladles of broth.
• - In the meantime, melt all saffron in a ladle of hot broth and add it to rice.
• - Make the same thing with tomato paste.
• - Continue cooking, adding broth whenever it is necessary until rice is cooked.
• - Add sliced ​​asparagus, fava beans, peas, aromatic herbs and asparagus puree a few minutes before turning off the stove.

Just before serving

• - When cooked, turn off the stove and wait at least 5 minutes before serving your paella.
• - Accompany vegetarian paella with a bowl of grated Parmesan.
  Anyone can sprinkle it on the top according to his own personal taste.

Note

Tips

• - You can prepare this paella 30 minutes ahead if you have guests. So you can enjoy what you've prepared and the company of your guests without any problem.
  However, remember to use a rice that can't overcook.
• - You can heat up your paella in a non-stick frying pan the day after if you have some portions left.
• - To steam asparagus, make the following steps.
  Gather asparagus in a bundle and tie.
  Then pour from three to four inches of water into your steamer.
  Put your asparagus with their stems directly into the water.
  Cover with the steamer basket that can act as a lid.
  Cooking time depends on many factors including the thickness of your asparagus.
• - If you have peas from your own organic garden or can buy organic peas, you could also boil their pods and then add their cooking water to the broth to flavor it even more.

Menu planning

• - This vegetarian paella is definitely a single-course meal if prepared for your family menu. If you're still hungry add a seasonal green salad and fresh fruit.
• - But this vegetarian paella is also perfect for a full menu too.
  Here's a menu of mine. Links to mentioned recipes below!
  Starter. Just prepare a lot of appetizers. I rememeber to have served in a seated dinner in spring these dishes: savory biscuits, assorted salami in slices, quail eggs garnished with mayonnaise, spicy olives, little meatballs, canned sweet-and-sour vegetables ... in short, a whole series of good tidbits.
  Main dish. My vegetarian paella
  Dessert. After my paella it was the turn of vanilla and dark chocolate ice cream garnished with my cooked cherries. Very tasty and plentiful!

Useful links for this recipe

• - See our pages on crostini, canapés, finger foods, Italian antipasto, savory pies to be served cut into slices. Surely you will find a lot of ideas. Italian starters & appetizers.
• - Here are the recipes with which I opened my meal: savory biscuits, so good that you'll really impress your guests and spicy olives that a lot od people like very much. Both are in the directory dedicated to Italian starters.
  On the contrary meatballs are in the meat area.
  Finally, my dessert: cooked cherries.
• - You could be interested in artichokes too. They are a healthy food, are you sure to know enough about them?

Healthy eating

• - This vegetarian paella is a low-calorie dish despite its many ingredients as you can read in nutritional fact table. Fats are also very low. The good news is that it is also tasty. Therefore it may be a good choice for those on a diet that don't want to deprive yourself of the pleasure of eating well. Who is not on a diet can also add a seasonal green salad and fresh fruit. I recommend it for lunch.
  For dinner, eat a portion of meat or fish accompanied by seasonal vegetables and a piece of bread.
  This vegetarian paella is a laborious dish for the amount of vegetables to clean. If you want to make it for a different number of people. here are the doses per head: 50g (1 3/4 ounce) rice, 125g (4.4 oounces) fresh shelling peas, 125g (4.4 ounces) fresh shelling fava beans, 1 small artichoke, 60g (2.1 ounces) asparagus, 1 small spring onion, 1 teaspoontomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon saffron, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 400ml (13 1/2 fluid ounces) hot broth and aromatic herbs at will.
• - Fiber per serving: 7.8g (daily intake in Europe is 30g).
• - All my Italian recipes can be done without adding salt. They're tasty for the amount of aromatic herbs. This is important for people who have to follow a low-salt diet to control blood pressure.

Loretta

What's the right wine for " Spring vegetable paella "?

Pair a beer to my paella with spring ingredients. Artichokes are not good with wine!