Paella with cod and vegetables

In my in-laws house paella cooking (and therefore eating) is a social event in itself. They have a lovely barbeque outside where a huge paellera (a special broad and shallow frying pan made for the purpose of cooking paella) fits comfortably on top of a gas stove. For some reason the task of cooking a paella has always fallen in the hands of a man in that house. People are welcome to come and help the cook or simply sit around in the sunshine, enjoying a beer, chatting about with the cook and taking in the lovely aromas radiating from the pan.

Now, I know the use of a large paellera outdoors is not always possible in every household, but I would say that one of the most important things here is to cook the paella over a gas stove instead of an electric one and make sure that the fire is distributed evenly underneath a large pan.

Every household has its own little secret for a paella recipe, and everyone will cook it with slightly different tips and tricks. I am sharing with you here our friend Chef Antoine's recipe (one of the best in my opinion!). He was kind enough to let me watch, question him constantly and take photos as he was working his magic :)

Note: There are many different types of paella with different variations (e.g. meet, shell fish etc). This one is considered a light one. Another little tip: paella is best eaten at lunchtime.

The recipe:

Serves approximately 15 hungry people. For smaller portions make adjustments according to taste (e.g. less vegetables, less rice...) - there's no actual science here. Additionally you make the paella with whatever vegetables you have at hand/ are in season, so feel free to swap according to taste or findings in your supermarket!

Ingredients:

 

- 1 kg cod cut in slices
- 1 large aubergine chopped into cubes
- 1 large pepper chopped into chunks
- 3 large onions chopped
- 250 g mushrooms of your choice chopped into large chunks
- 1-1,5 kg artichokes cleaned (outer layers and chalks removed) and chopped into wedges
- 3 tomatoes chopped into cubes
- 1,5 kg paella rice (if not available, risotto rice will make a good substitution)
- boiled water (double the amount of volume of the rice ) with vegetable stock
- generous amount of good quality olive oil

Optional: men wanting to cook in the sunshine in which case they would appreciate being served beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe:

 

1. Put the artichoke wedges in water and squeeze a lemon over them so that they don't brown (leave to rest while chopping the rest of the ingredients)

2. In the paella pan add a lot of olive oil (good quality is a must!).
3. Wait for the oil to heat, add the artichokes and fry for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Add the aubergines and peppers and fry for a couple of minutes, stirring often.
5. Add the onions and fry for another couple of minutes stirring often.
6. Add the tomatoes. Stir occasionally. Fry for around 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are softened.

7. Add the mushrooms and the cod. Stir and leave to fry for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
8. Add the rice and stir to mix well. Fry until it becomes abit see through.

9. Add the boiled water with stock, stir in and leave to simmer stirring once in a while. 

 

Cook for about 20 mins until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked. You might need to add extra water toward the end (you'll know by tasting to see if the rice is cooked). It's important that if you do add water, it's boiling hot, otherwise you "interrupt" the cooking of the rice. Toward the end, do not stir too much, it's nice when the rice at the bottom burns slightly. Instead you can shake the pan a bit. Also try the rice every now and then to know when it's done. 

Y ya está: A dinaaaar!