Summer vegetable paella

Ingredients

For the sofrito:

2-3 cloves garlic

1 large red pepper, sliced (230g)

2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into sixths (270g)

1 red onion, sliced (80g)

2 tbsps fresh parsley

For the paella:

500ml stock, with a pinch of saffron dissolved in it

1 large courgette, chopped into large chunks (230g)

2-3 large spring onions - like calcots - trimmed and halved lengthways (130g)

small head of broccoli, chopped into florets (120g)

green beans, topped and tailed & cut into thirds (120g)

broad beans (180g)

200g paella rice

5 tbsps olive oil

salt

pimenton (either smoked or picante/spicy)

paella spice (you can buy sachets of ready-mixed spices)

Directions

1. Pre-heat your oven to gas 5/200C
2. Place the halved spring onions and chunks of courgette on a baking tray and toss in 1 tbsp olive oil. Pop in the oven, turning occasionally, to roast. Don't worry if the onions burn a little - they will taste super-sweet.
3. Next, the sofrito: the base of many Spanish dishes, this is generally made from peeled & diced tomatoes which are simmered for a long time. I'm too lazy to make it this way so I simply chucked all the sofrito ingredients into a blender & whizzed until smooth.
4. In a large frying pan (or paella pan if you have one) heat 4 tbsp olive oil. Add the sofrito and simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the pimenton & paella spices to the pan, stir, and simmer for a couple of minutes more.
6. Add the paella rice to the pan and stir. Now put down whatever you're using to stir with and resist the temptation to stir for the remainder of the cooking process. Those burnt bits on the bottom of the pan are the ones the Spanish fight for!
7. Add the stock a cup at a time, allowing the rice time to absorb the liquid and the dish to simmer.
8. When you add the last cup of stock, scatter the green beans and broad beans over the dish and allow to cook for a few minutes.
9. Add the broccoli to the pan.
10. Check the seasoning and add salt to your taste.
11. Check that the rice & beans are cooked, and then turn off the heat. Place the oven-baked spring onions and courgette on the top & serve immediately.
12. Leftovers can be re-heated quite easily, they'll also make a nice filling for a stuffed pepper if you fancy doing something different with them.

This recipe tastes even better made with vegetables from Community Harvest Whetstone :)