Vegetable paella

I visited a market in Spain today bursting with beautiful vegetables - so what better to make than paella! Summer vegetables grow in the winter here, which is why you'll see so many Spanish veggies in British supermarkets. Anything goes great in a paella but I used fennel, courgettes, carrots and asparagus, with strips of sun-dried tomatoes for colour. No need for fish here!

 

• 1 bulb of fennel, sliced
• 6 slim carrots
• 12 asparagus spears
• 1 courgette, sliced into rounds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 400 g short grain rice
• 500 ml good vegetable stock
• Large glass of white wine
• 1/2 tsp or big pinch of saffron (optional)
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• Good sprinkling of cayenne pepper, to taste
• Lemon wedges (optional)

1. Fennel takes a while to cook, so chop it into wedges, toss in olive oil and roast for about 25 minutes along with the carrots
2. Glug some olive oil into a wide, heavy-based saute pan and gently fry the onion and garlic.
3. Add the rice and stir until it is all coated in oil and lightly nutty.
4. Add a glass of wine and reduce.
5. Pour in the tinned tomatoes and vegetable stock. Stir, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Stir the rice, adding a little more water if it seems dry. Add all the remaining vegetables, arranging them in an attractive pattern on the top.
7. Cover and cook on a low heat for another ten minutes. Check the rice and vegetables, the rice should be just tender and the asparagus not quite done.
8. Take off the heat and leave covered for ten minutes to rest.
9. Garnish with lemon wedges and pretend you're on holiday in Spain. Buen provecho!

Variations

You can use any kind of vegetables in a paella, particularly fresh summer veggies. Tomatoes, peppers, baby sweetcorn, peas, mushrooms are all great.

Saffron is traditional in paella but it's expensive so you can easily leave it out. A pinch of turmeric gives a cheaper non-traditional yellow colour, just don't tell!

In the summer use roasted fresh tomatoes instead of tinned, the flavour is better but tinned is more convenient.

Roast mushroom risotto

I've covered risotto tips before but thought I'd post my mushroom risotto. It was delicious and totally hit the spot to warm up on a wintery late autumnal night!

I also have a new camera phone, I think it takes better pictures...

Mushroom risotto is pretty much bog standard vegetarian fair, I improve the flavour by slow roasting the mushrooms first to give them more of a kick. Wild mushrooms are in season so use them if you're lucky enough to get your hands on them!

• 400g rice serves four
• 1 litre rich vegetable stock
• Large knob of butter or olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• Lots of mushrooms (I don't know, a punnet?)
• 2 cloves garlic
• Glug of white wine or white Vermouth

1. Heat the oven to 170C and roast the mushrooms whole for about 20 minutes
2. Meanwhile dice the onion, take a large pan and fry the onions on a moderate heat with a splash of oil and knob of butter, until pale
3. Add the rice and mix thoroughly so the grains are coated and they start to go very slightly nutty
4. Splash in the wine and stir until the alcohol evaporates.
5. Add about 500ml of the stock, stir thoroughly and wait for it to absorb, stirring occasionally.
6. By now the mushrooms are done, removed from the oven and roughly chop, saving a few pieces to garnish.
7. Once the rice has absorbed the first lot of liquid, add a glug more, enough to cover the rice, and stir in the mushrooms and garlic.
8. Keep adding more stock and stirring until you've used all the liquid. The grains should be tender and just barely al dente. Add plain water if it needs.
9. The finished consistency should be gooey like rice pudding, it should slide off a spoon but not be runny.
10. When done, take off the heat, add another knob of butter for a final flourish.
11. Serve on hot plates with either chopped parsley or sage, a few mushroom slices, and a grate of Parmesan or Pecorino.

Caramelised fennel and blue cheese risotto

It's turned a bit autumnal here despite being August, so after buying some big fat fennel bulbs in the market I made a favourite warming recipe, fennel risotto with blue cheese.

It's amazing how satisfying a good risotto can be, it's such warming comfort food. It's simple to make but there's definitely a knack to it - the rice should be soft but not overcooked, and there should be enough liquid to ooze a little on the plate, but not so much that liquid runs out. Restaurants often serve runny risotto, this is very wrong to me!

My recipe serves 2-3, you can serve a small portion as a starter. Use whatever blue cheese you favour, a good Stilton or strong Gorgonzola gives a robust flavour and creamy texture, but use something milder if you prefer. A good rich stock is vital to a good recipe, I use Swiss Marigold vegetable stock.

• 1 large fennel bulb, finely sliced
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 200g risotto rice
• 50g blue cheese
• 500 ml rich vegetable stock
• Small glass of white wine or white vermouth
• Knob of butter

1. When slicing the fennel, reserve the whiskery fennel tops for decoration at the end.
2. Splash some oil and a knob of butter in a large frying pan and fry the fennel and onion, initially on a high heat. 
3. When the onions start to go translucent, turn down to a gentle heat and cook for about ten minutes until the fennel and onion go soft and caramelised. 
4. When done, remove from the heat and put to one side.
5. To cook the rice, add oil and a knob of butter in a high-sided frying pan or sauté pan.
6. When the butter starts to bubble, add the rice and stir until all the rice is coated in the oil. Stir for a couple of minutes, this gives the rice a slightly nutty aroma.
7. Stir in the wine or vermouth until the alcohol evaporates, then pour in enough stock to cover the rice.
8. Stir stir stir! Each time the liquid has nearly been absorbed, add more.
9. Once you've used the stock and the rice is part cooked (5-8 minutes or so), stir in the fennel and onion mixture.
10. Keep stirring until the rice is cooked, adding more water as necessary.
11. Taste the rice occasionally to check when it's done.
12. When done, take off the heat and mix in the cheese.
13. To serve, spoon into the middle of a plate and sprinkle with fennel fronds and shavings of blue cheese.

Variations

Caramelised fennel has only a mild aniseed flavour but if you want more kick, add a teaspoon of fennel seeds.

A sprinkling of toasted walnuts when serving gives an extra nutty warmth to the dish.