P is for pretty paella pan. And if we're being honest, when I bought my crimson paella pan with the swirly handles...well I didn't even know it was a paella pan. Yep. I just thought it looked nice and I had a vision of it sitting crimson and pristine in my dining room, and was paying for my objet d'art when the vintage store cashier asked when I would be making my paella. Riiiiiiiiiight. (Why do I confess these things to you?)
I still didn't run home and cook in it. It stayed dormant in my condo for two years, looking lovely, and then I moved it into my house where it sat hidden away for almost three years after the day I unpacked it. It wasn't that I didn't like paella, it was just one of those things that I gave up when I gave up eating animals. I'd had meaty paellas and, more often, delicious seafood-stuffed paellas that one Spanish friend's mother made for every party they had. I didn't really care to make a vegetarian paella because I didn't think it could complete with my memory. But then, as often happens, those memories stirred a craving and I had to, had to attempt a vegetarian paella. And it had better be good. And that depended on two things.
One was the beautiful, flavourful, in-season early summer produce I would stud the paella with, because after all, paella is always pretty. Unlike a risotto, you don't stir it. You attempt to create a coveted crispy rice crust at the bottom called a soccorat--and I say attempt because if you don't simmer the paella gently, the liquid will evaporate too quickly and the bottom will burn. Watch carefully for steam that turns to smoke and that will your warning that your soccorat is crossing the line. But the added benefit to not stirring is that you can artfully arrange your ingredients which will stay in place perfectly as you move your paella pan from stove to the impressive centre of your meal. Seafood, like mussels, cook right in the paella but other ingredients are often par-cooked or browned in the oven first, like in my recipe here.
But looks aside, the key to making delicious any recipe that is half stock, is using quality stock. I've never found a store-bought vegetable broth that I liked enough to drink straight, so I usually make my own base for soups. Here, that's just a matter of pureeing some vegetables into a paste that basically dissolves in water as it bubbles away and steams every kernel of rice. And about the rice: paella is about saffron, paprika and Spanish rice. Bomba or Calasparra rice is argued to be superior to, say, Arborio rice, and the texture is different. But I've used Arborio too with good results. Bomba rice is a splurge, but one I was willing to make since it's not like I bought it all the time, right? It remains to be seen, whether I keep buying it now that I've finally found a vegetarian paella recipe that lives up to my expectations for this very special, scented, savoury, and very look-at-meal meal.
