What’s the best part of a plate of paella? Why, it’s the socarrat of course. What is socarrat, you ask? Socarrat is the caramelised layer of crunchy rice that forms on the bottom of the paella pan, and it is the best thing ever. As long as you resist the temptation to stir your paella-in-the-making while it’s simmering, you too can achieve perfect socarrat on the bottom of your pan.
Paella is traditionally made with a short-grained variety of rice called bomba, but due to the difficulty of finding bomba at an affordable price point, I use Calrose rice. For this recipe, I like using canned chopped tomatoes and frozen chopped artichoke hearts and peas for convenience.
First, the onions, garlic and bell peppers are sautéed in olive oil. Then, throw in the veggies of your choice in a mostly logical order. Add your rice, add your liquid, stir it once (yes, once), and let her sit.
In the meantime, do something else (but don’t completely forget about your paella!). Return to socarrat in the bottom of your pan. Marvel at how easy it was to make a whole paella on a weekday. Simple as that!
Veggie Paella
Ingredients
- 500 milliliters vegetable stock
- Generous pinch saffron threads
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ red bell pepper sliced
- ½ green bell pepper sliced
- 210 grams short or medium grain paella rice e.g. bomba or Calrose
- ½ tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 115 grams diced tomatoes canned or fresh
- 125 grams asparagus trimmed and chopped into 4-centimeter pieces
- 300 grams or 1 medium zucchini cubed
- 100 grams chopped frozen artichoke hearts
- 75 grams frozen peas
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the stock in a saucepan or in the microwave until simmering. Crush the saffron threads between your fingertips, place in a small bowl, cover with 1 tablespoon warm water, and set aside.
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy bottom skillet (I use cast-iron). Add the onion and cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bell peppers, and a generous pinch of salt. Continue cooking until the bell peppers begin to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Add the zucchini and another pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until the zucchini is lightly browned and softened. Add the tomato paste, paprika, and rice. Cook for 1 minute, until the grains begin to crackle. Add the tomatoes and cook until the start to break down, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the saffron with its soaking water. Season generously with salt and black pepper, then add the stock, asparagus, and artichokes. Bring to the boil and stir once. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer without stirring until the liquid has mostly evaporated, about 10-15 minutes.
- Add the frozen peas. Continue to simmer until the rice is dry, another 5-10 minutes. At this point, a nice socarrat should have formed. Remove the paella from the heat and serve warm.
Notes
- Though traditionally made with the bomba variety of rice, this can be difficult and expensive to find outside of Spain. Calrose rice is a pretty good substitute, so I use that.
- Feel free to switch up which veggies you use in this recipe! Just be mindful of different cooking times and integrate them at appropriate times throughout the recipe.