January 15, 2019

Roasted Red Pepper Vegan Paella

Vibrant and unpretentious, this hearty rice dish is full of traditional flavors and techniques, accomplished with a wide range of less traditional ingredients. Soft, seasoned rice on top is set off by the crunchy, bottom layer of the vegan paella. Roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, shiitake mushrooms and edamame add punches of flavor and textural variation to the dish. A soy-based Mexican-style chorizo adds a fatty, flavorful punch. Weaving in and out of all of this is the smoky paprika, and of course, saffron. Bright touches of lemon and parsley add freshness to this deep, vibrant, Spanish rice specialty.

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There’s Traditional Paella, and there’s What I Made…

Paella has been made with a variety of toppings- from the Valencian rabbit and snail combination, to the more commonly seen seafood variation, the most important part of paella is still the rice. And I will start right now by saying that this is where I have committed my greatest crime against paella, and bucked tradition, by using a medium-grained rice. Usually bomba rice, a short-grained rice is a hallmark of paella. But it is not a hallmark of my local grocery store- after stopping in three different stores, the only short-grained rice I had seen was Arborio rice (traditionally used in Italian risotto), and that was being sold for about $9 a pound. So for my vegan paella, rather than pay an exorbitant amount, or scour an unnecessary amount of shops, I decided to use a product that is readily available in grocery stores and went with an every day, super cheap, medium grain rice. And it worked really well! To all the paella purists out there, I’m sorry. To all those who just want a tasty paella, no need to be put off by short-grain snobbery, a basic medium-grain rice will do quite nicely and save you money.

Paella Ingredients

The only ingredient you may have some trouble finding is the soy-based chorizo. While there are both Spanish and Mexican -style chorizos, the one I used would be closer to the Mexican variety (It’s loose, and doesn’t hold a shape but instead crumbles). Feel free to use whatever you can find, but the one I used was this gem from Trader Joe’s. While you’re there getting your chorizo, I really recommend picking up some saffron too- it’s an expensive luxury ingredient, but Trader Joe’s sells enough to make more than two batches of this vegan paella for about $6. Again, thank you Trader Joe’s.

Looking for Rice Recipes? Try one of these!

How to Make Vegan Paella

The big trick to making paella is in the lack of stirring. It’s almost the opposite of making risotto, where stirring is a constant in creating the silky smooth rice dish. Instead, paella, which was traditionally made over fires, is cooked with very little stirring, so the bottom and edges of the pan becomes lined with a crispy, toasted layer called the socarrat. It adds to the lovely variety of textures present in the vegan paella. In order to make sure the rice cooks fully on top, however, it is important to loosely cover your pan with something like aluminum foil, as it will help steam to form and cook the rice more fully. Serve the vegan paella with lemon wedges and fresh parsley to add a bright, acidic and fresh note to the dish, and scoop a little of the crunchy socarrat into each bowl.