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This vibrant vegetable paella is vegan, packed with flavour, and brimming with a variety of colourful veggies.
To make a great paella, you'll need rice, spices, and broth. Opt for short-grain Spanish "bomba" rice, which absorbs twice as much liquid as regular rice without becoming mushy. "Calasparra" rice is another excellent choice.
A key tip: never stir the rice after adding the broth, as this helps the grains absorb liquid evenly and stay intact.
Smoked paprika and saffron are essential for authentic flavour, so use high-quality spices. For the broth, infuse it with saffron by simmering the threads in vegetable broth for a minute, then cover to let the flavours develop.
Finally, while a paella pan is traditional, a large skillet works just as well for this vegetable paella.
NOTE: Carrots, courgettes, peas and sugar snaps can all be used in making this dish, with adjustment to the cooking times. Serves two, generously.

- 3 tbsp olive oil
- ½ Spanish onion, finely chopped
- ½ red, green and yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
- ½ fennel bulb, cut into strips
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp cayenne
- 150g Calasparra rice
- 100ml sherry
- 1 tsp saffron strands
- 500ml boiling vegetable stock
- Sea salt
- 12 mini plum tomatoes
- 5 small grilled jarred artichokes, quartered
- 300g podded broad beans, blanched and skinned
- 10 pitted Kalamata olives
- 2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
- 4 lemon wedges, to serve
- Heat the oil in a paella or large, shallow frying pan, then gently fry the onion for five minutes.
- Add the peppers and fennel, and fry over medium heat until soft and golden - about eight minutes.
- Add the garlic, cook for a minute, then add the bay leaves and spices, stir, add the rice and cook, stirring, for two minutes.
- Add the sherry and saffron, boil down for a minute, then add the stock and a third of a teaspoon of salt. Reduce the heat as low as it will go and leave to simmer for 20 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Do not stir: the low heat will prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Taste and add salt if needed, but avoid stirring the rice and vegetables much.
- Scatter the tomatoes, artichokes and beans over the rice, cover the pan tightly with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Take off the foil, scatter the olives on top, sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
Recipe credit: From the cookbook “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi