VEGETABLE STOCK
- 400g button mushrooms
- 400g celeriac
- 400g leeks
- 2 heads of garlic, halved
- 100g asparagus
trimmings - 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 150ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 dried porcini
mushrooms - 1 bouquet garni
● Dice all the fresh
vegetables into cubes of
the same size.● Heat the oil in a large
saucepan over a low heat
and add the halves of
garlic. Before the garlicServes 4
Ingredients
- 150ml olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 400g shallots, finely diced
- 1½ leeks, finely diced
- 2 tsp ancho chilli paste
- 600g mushrooms, of which
400g finely diced - 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig lemon thyme
- 12 asparagus spears,
trimmed (save trimmings
for the stock) - 200g broad beans, defrosted
if frozen - 200g peas, defrosted if frozen
- 180g paella rice
- 650ml vegetable stock
- Chopped chives, to garnish
01 Heat the oil in a large pan
and add the garlic, shallots and
leeks with a pinch of salt. Cook
over a very low heat until the
shallots are caramelised. Add
the chilli paste and cook a little
longer, then add the diced
mushrooms, bay leaf and lemon
thyme. Continue to cook over a
low heat until the mushrooms
have given up all their moisture
— this can take up to an hour
— and you have a thick, almost
jam-like texture.
02 Clean the asparagus and cut
each spear in half. Blanch for 10
seconds, then cool in ice water
and dry with kitchen paper. Do
the same with the broad beans
and peas if using fresh.
03 To cook the rice, bring the
stock to the boil and heat the
oven to 200C (220C non-fan).
In a cast-iron paella pan or
similar, sear the asparagus in
a little more oil and set aside.
Do the same to the whole
mushrooms and set them aside.04 Add the mushroom “jam”
to the same pan you seared the
mushrooms and asparagus in.
Set over a medium heat, add
the rice and cook for 1-2 min,
stirring. Increase the heat and
pour over the hot stock. Cook
on a rolling boil, without stirring,
for 10 min, then add the sautéed
asparagus and mushrooms, plus
the peas and broad beans.05 Put the pan in the oven for
another 7 min. The rice should
be roasted and caramelised.
Leave to rest for a couple of
minutes before finishing with
chopped chives.Arroz de
primavera
A perfect way to show off spring
vegetables such as asparagus,
broad beans and peas. Much
of the flavour comes from the
stock, so if you use stock cubes,
add the asparagus trimmings
and porcini to give it a boost.
colours, add the remaining
vegetables and cook over
a medium heat for a
couple of minutes.● Add the tomato puree
and cook for a minute or
two before adding enough
cold water to cover. Add
the bouquet garni and
simmer for 25 min. Take off
the heat and add the dried
porcini. Leave to infuse for
at least an hour before
straining and setting aside.
This will keep for a couple
of days in the fridge.42 • The Sunday Times Magazine