Meat-and-vegetable paella

Recipe for paella with meat and vegetables

Preparation and cooking

• - Prepare broth.
  Pour water in a big pan and bring to a boil.
  Add green beans, still frozen, and count a minute after water returns to a boil.
  Remove green beans with a skimmer ladle and put apart.
  It's the time of mushrooms, still frozen. Add them to boiling water and count a minute after water brings to a boil again.
  Remove mushrooms with a skimmer ladle and put apart but divide them into two halves.
  Add cubes too, the amount depending on your own taste.
  Your broth is ready!
• - Prepare meat.
  Meanwhile cut meat into little pieces, sausage included.
  Divide all pieces into two halves.
• - Prepare sweet red bell peppers.
  Remove their stalks and upper parts.
  Cut them in half and remove their seeds and pith inside.
  Wash them and pat all excess water with absorbent kitchen paper.
  Cut into slices crosswise and divide into two halves.
• - Prepare remining ingredients for your paella.
  Distribute olive oil in two frying pans.
  Generally, I use a paella pan and a wok having regard to the quantity. Paella pan is undoubtedly the best choice because it is low and has a very large surface area, excellent to stir-fry all ingredients. But I have not two paella pans and so I made this choice.
  Chop onion and leeks and add to your pans distributing them equally.
  Add a dried bay leaf in every pan too.
• - Cooking.
  Begin frying onion and leek slightly on very low heat, stirring now and then.
  Then remove them with a skimmer ladle and put apart.
  It's the time of meat. Stir accurately to brown very well.
  Then remove meat with a skimmer ladle.
  Let red bell peppers brown on low heat.
  Meanwhile bring broth to a boil.
  At this point, put together onions, leeks, bell peppers and meat in the two pans.
  Distribute rice in the two pans and let it turns to milky color, stirring frequently.
  Then add hot broth, a little at a time, and finish cooking rice according to the times indicated in the package.
  Do not forget to add saffron (diluted in boiling broth), green beans and mushrooms.
  I usually add them 10 minutes before the end of cooking. Remember to cut green beans into small pieces and divide them into two halves before adding to paella pans.

Just before serving

• - Once turned off the stove, cut in fresh chives that you've already washed. Remember to pat dry chives with absorbent kitchen paper.
• - Distribute paella on individual dishes and serve at once.

Note

Tips

• - Do not make the mistake of using only a pan with these doses. Its surface area would be too small tostir- fry and cook all ingredients well.
• - Use a parboiled rice that does not overcook easily.
• - Buy good-quality mushrooms with some aromatic ceps.
• - Buy rabbit legs to remove bones easily.
• - If you do not find fresh chives, use 2 tablespoons dried chives.
• - Generally, I never use broth cubes for health issues but when I have guests I make a small transgression. However, I buy organic cubes, without abusing it. You have to adjust the dose depending on your habits and tastes.
• - You can prepare this paella with vegetables and meat in two stages.
  In the first stage you have to prepare all ingredients and broth. Then you can also stir-fry onions, leeks, bell peppers and meat. Put all apart.
  In a second step, you have to add rice to pans and finish cooking.

Menu planning

• - I created this recipe for a birthday party with many guests and it is for this reason that the doses are for so many people. In fact, paella is laborious and it is worth doing it in similar situations.
• - I think it is perfect to be served in a meal, buffet-style. After all the appetizers you can serve, this dish will impress your guests! And at the end a good cake! Prepare a seasonal cake. In autumn, the Italian castagnaccio (chestnut cake). In winter, the apple tart or apple pie or an orange tart. In spring, cherry tart. In summer, ice-cream cake. And if you enjoy such menu for a dinner at Holiday season, you can choose panettone or panpepato. The links for the mentioned recipes can be found below, in the next paragraph.
• - If you decide to prepare this paella for your Sunday lunch, reduce the doses. Below in "healthy eating", I list the doses per person. Another solution could be to leave unchanged these doses and freeze all your remains. You can keep paella frozen for at least two months. Heated in a non-stick pan, it is very good, really!

Useful links for this recipe

• - We dedicated a special page to Spanish cuisine in which you'll be able to find fish-meat-and-vegetable paella. A real goodness!
• - Are you interested in Italian appetizers? follow the link ;))

Healthy eating

• - This paella is not a high-calorie dish and this is due to its doses per head: 50g (1 3/4 ounces) rice, 75g (2 3/4 ounces) meat, a little onion, 40g (1 1/2 ounces) leek, 40g (1 1/2 ounces) mushrooms, 20g (2/4 ounce) bell peppers, 30g (1 ounce) green beans, 1 teaspoon olive oil.
  You have just read the reason why I always prepare great amount of paella even if I have not to plan a party. It is a laborious-to-do recipe but not high in calorie and so it is worth freezing it.
• - Se la volete preparare per il menu in famiglia (domenicale visti i tempi) completate il pasto con un'insalata di stagione e frutta fresca.
• - Fiber per serving: 2.4 grams.

Loretta

What's the right wine ?

My husband and I suggest to pair Merlot wine. We prefer Merlot DOC Lison Pramaggiore produced by the firm Le Carline (Veneto). It's a wine from organic grapes.