Roasted Vegetable Paella
serves 4-6
This paella replaces shellfish with roasted vegetables making the dish less expensive and easier to shop for in areas where fresh shellfish is hard to find, but it brings its own smoky redolence to the classic.
This recipe is part of Andrew Schloss's Sunday Dinners.
1 large Spanish onion, cut in 6 thick slices
2 small heads garlic
3 red or yellow bell peppers
8 medium mushrooms
2 sweet potatoes, scrubbed, cut in 6 slices each
1 medium eggplant, stemmed, cut in 8 thick slices
1 yellow squash, stemmed, cut in 4 slices lengthwise
1 zucchini, stemmed, cut in 4 slices lengthwise
8 plum tomatoes
Olive oil spray
1/4 teaspoon saffron
1 cup white wine
2 1/2 cups long grain rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 lime, cut in wedges
prep: 15 minutes
total: 40 minutes
grill
tongs
large skillet
1. Coat the onion, garlic, bell peppers, mushrooms, potatoes, eggplant, squash, zucchini and tomatoes with olive oil spray. Grill the onion, garlic, peppers, mushrooms and potatoes on an oiled rack set 4 inches from a high fire for 6 minutes, turning once. Place the eggplant, squash, zucchini and tomatoes on the rack and grill for 8 minutes more, turning as necessary, until all of the vegetables are softened and well browned.
2. Chop the grilled onion, bell pepper and tomatoes finely and mix together. Squeeze the flesh from the skin of the garlic. Mix in with the other chopped vegetables.
3. Chop the eggplant, squash, zucchini and mushrooms into large cubes. Cut the sweet potatoes into large cubes and add to the remaining roasted vegetables. Meanwhile crumble the saffron into the wine and set aside.
4. In a large skillet, cook the rice in the olive oil over moderate heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the remaining 3 cups onion/bell pepper mixture and stir into the rice. Add the saffron and wine mixture and the vegetable or chicken broth. Stir and heat to a simmer. Turn the heat down to maintain the simmer, cover and cook for 12 minutes, until the rice is tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed.
5. Stir in the eggplant mixture and heat through. Turn onto a platter and serve, garnished with parsley and lime.
