VEGETARIAN PAELLA IS DELICIOUS

Paella is such a satisfying dish and surprisingly easy to make.  The most labor intensive part is cooking the risotto -- not hard, just a little time-consuming. This paella is even easier since it is a vegetarian variation. And it's just as delicious.  Besides wanting to eat more vegetarian meals, we had a friend to dinner the other night who is vegetarian.  I received a copy of Ina Garten's Cooking for Jeffrey for my birthday and found a vegetable paella in it.  Sounded perfect. I adapted the recipe by substituting vegetable stock for the chicken stock and adding the vegetables I had on hand along with some tofu for added protein. It came out great!  Here's the recipe:

ON THE CUTTING BOARD:



Porcini risotto, red, yellow and orange peppers,
2 baby eggplants, vidalia onion bulbs, cherry tomatoes, black olives,
sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, baby celery
root, 1 red and 1yellow onion, garlic, smoked paprika, fresh thyme,
olive oil, saffron, Manchego cheese (or parmesan), black olives.
Pictured is some chicken stock which I put in to show that stock is used.
For this particular dish, I used pound spice, a specialty spice from St.
Croix. I mixed one T. with 3.5 cups of water.  Pound spice looks like this:



Use any vegetable stock you like.  The recipe also
called for a Spanish paella rice, but I used risotto.
I used vidalia onion bulbs instead of scallions and
celery root instead of fennel. Use what you have!

STEP ONE:



Cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch rounds and cut in half. Cut
onions into thick slices and cut in half. Cut the celery
root into 1/2-inch rounds and cut in half.  Toss with peppers
(I used whole, small ones) and three T. of olive oil. Sprinkle
with a pinch of sea salt and a grind of pepper and roast in a
425 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes. Make sure the
vegetables start to get a nice char.  Cook the mushrooms in
a little oil or butter until they are nicely browned and aromatic.

STEP TWO:















Heat 3 T. of olive oil in a paella pan or skillet and add
the chopped yellow onion. Cook until translucent and then add 6
cloves finely chopped garlic and 1 tsp. of saffron threads. Cook
for about a minute and then add the chopped vidalia onion greens
or scallions. Stir and let cook another minute. Add 2 cups of rice
and stir to coat with the olive oil.  Puree the jarred red peppers
with 1 tsp. smoked paprika and add to the rice.  Pour in 1 cup of
heated stock to the pan and stir. Let cook until liquid is nearly
absorbed and then add more stock (about 10 minutes).
Heat should be on medium.  Add about 1 tsp. of fresh thyme.

Keep adding stock until the risotto is al dente.

STEP THREE:








Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan along with about
3 T of sliced sun dried tomatoes. Stir. Carefully fold
in the tofu. I used soft tofu because I'm not too fond of
the firm one in terms of flavor and texture. Add the roasted
vegetables and sautéed mushrooms and stir. Remove
the paella from the heat.

STEP FOUR:



Add the black olives (recipe calls for Manzanilla or
Cerignola) and the cheese. Grate according to taste.
Check for salt. The pound spice has quite a lot, so I
didn't add any extra except for a little on the roasted
vegetables. If you used a no- or low-salt stock, you
might want to add some.

STEP FIVE:



Spoon into shallow bowls and enjoy!

ALLA VOSTRA SALUTE!