I am madly in love with this dish.
Paella has been on my "to-make" list for awhile but again like many items, it always seems like too much effort or too many exotic ingredients. So, I never took my desire to make it seriously.
Until Alex and Sonja made the dish for me the first night I was in Indianapolis. The flavor of the pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika) paired with the rice and veggies was perfect. Not only that, the dish is vegan and gluten-free. After that meal I was half tempted to move to Indianapolis just so we could have weekly paella dinners. (Just kidding, but only slightly...)
But alas I'm still four hours away from Indy and the only way I was going to get more paella was to make it for myself. In fact, Alex was even nice enough to grab me some pimentón to take home. I really had no excuse.
I waited until I could get everything from the CSA and since I'm always looking for more zucchini recipes, I decided to replace the artichokes with thickly sliced zucchini and I used fresh tomatoes instead of the canned. Everything worked out perfectly for my 8" cast iron skillet (can you tell I'm excited about my antique store find? Two cast iron skillet dishes in one week!)
Be sure to pop over to A Couple Cooks for the original recipe and some helpful hints on making this! You can find pimentón at stores like Fresh Market or Whole Foods. Also, if you are in the market for cast iron skillets, I highly suggest you check out your local antique stores! I bought mine for relatively cheap and I've been wondering how I've lived my life for so long without small cast iron skillets!
PrintZucchini (Summer) Paella
Alex and Sonja suggest using saffron in place of the turmeric to be more authentic; however, as long as you use the pimentón you should loose flavor!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1-2 1x
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, diced
- ½ tablespoon smoked paprika (pimentón)
- 1 teaspoon tumeric
- ½ cup short grain brown rice
- ¾ cup diced tomatoes (about 1 large one)
- 2 tablespoon water
- ½ cup chickpeas (drained/rinsed if using canned)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ¼ cup vegetable broth
- 5-6 ½" slices zucchini
Instructions
- In a 8" cast iron skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Stir in diced shallots and minced garlic, cooking for 4-5 minutes. Next, add ½ tablespoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon tumeric, and ½ cup brown rice; cook for one minute.
- Next, add the roughly diced tomato, two tablespoons water, ½ cup chickpeas, and ½ teaspoon of salt and pepper. Give a good stir and cook until tomatoes start to boil, 3-4 minutes.
- Finally, carefully pour in 1 ¼ veggie broth and layer zucchini slices on the top of the dish, lightly pushing the zucchini in to the dish. (The broth will be up to the edge of the pan but will reduce down from there.) Bring broth to a boil and the reduce to medium-low.
- Continue to let cook without stirring until rice has absorbed almost all the liquid, roughly 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Water should be completely absorbed and paella should look crusty on top!
Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says
I've been looking for an affordable cast iron skillet forever. Guess it's time to look at the antique stores b/c spending $80-100 on a pan is just not something I'm down with. On the paella front, after spending a semester in Spain in college, I have an undying love for the stuff. Minus the ones with octopus in them, those I can pass quite easily...
car says
I actually really love my Lodge... it wasn't in the price range you list. I did flatten it and reseason it myself.
Jordan says
HomeGoods! I think I bought one for $30.
Betsy Haley says
We have a whole zucchini link party happening over at Seasonal Potluck! http://bit.ly/MFhxJH I'm busting at the seams with zucchini from my garden myself and always need more inspirations! This dish will be perfect for the vegetarian supper club I attend every other week! I'd love if you'd link it up
Kathryn says
I really need (well, that may not strictly be true) a cast iron skillet, your one here is just perfect! I'm not a big fish person so I've tended to stay away from paella in the past but I love this veggie alternative.
Kat says
This looks delicious! Definitely going to try it this weekend.
Sarah says
thank you for this - i know what we're having for dinner tonight!
Katie says
Yum! I've been making a veggie paella from Plenty that is out of this world, and I've been wanting to try some other recipes out as well. Thanks for this one!
Kankana says
Perfect for the season. I was looking for something new to prepare with zucchini and this is definitely something I would love to give a try.
Sonja says
Yay, paella! So glad you tried this out, and that it worked too 🙂 I don't remember if we talked about this, but I studied abroad in Spain, and ever since then, I've loved to celebrate special occasions with a paella. So glad we could celebrate you with it! XO Sonja 🙂
Savory Simple says
What a lovely summer paella! Beautiful presentation.
Bethelynn says
I made this for dinner tonight with tapas of avocado and red onion relish, roasted red bell pepper with Spanish olives, and beautiful rustic bread. Everyone loved it from the 1 and 3 year old's up to me and papa. So good!!! I had saffron so added a couple pinches of that in with rice, I will be making this one again I'm thinking next time for a party!
naturallyella says
So glad everyone love it! I love your additions!
Warm Vanilla Sugar says
This looks fabulous! Yum!
Kasco says
Do you know or ever include the nutritional information and serving size amounts. I LOVE looking at all of your recipes, but my hubby and I count calories/fats/carbs, etc etc. . .and I am not sure how to do that on these recipes. Thanks for sharing such wonderful eats!!
Beth says
you can go onto carb-counter.net and put in the different ingredients to figure out about how many carbs and calories are in different recipes.
naturallyella says
It's been a back and forth on whether or not I want to add that information. While I understand that there are people who like that information, I really want to focus more on whole foods and less on counting calories. I know there are many websites and programs out there that will do this already, it just takes an extra step.
car says
This was delicious and brilliantly easy. I also used a couple pinches of saffron in place of the turmeric, and it was sooo good. It took forever to cook, though; after maybe 80 minutes, I covered it, and then it finished up pretty quickly. Was I supposed to cover it?
Anyway, definitely going to make again.
Carissa says
Did you use a cast iron skillet?
car says
I did...
elalderson says
I've missed a ton of comments somewhere along the way- sorry I never responded! The way I was shown how to make it was uncovered.
Mia says
Do you think I could substitute quinoa for brown rice in the recipe?
erin says
The cook time wouldn't be the same. Brown rice cooks between 35-45 minutes while quinoa only needs 15-20. You might be able to pull it off but I'm just not sure...
elalderson says
Missed this question somewhere along the lines! You might be able to but it would drastically change the cooking time and possibly the water/grain proportion!
Food Stories says
This looks stunning & tasty 🙂
Chelsey says
Wondering if I could use something other than a cast iron skillet? This recipe looks sooooo good but I don't have a cast iron skillet to play with quite yet!
elalderson says
You know, I'm not really sure. You might be able to try a skillet, but you would really want to watch and see if the rice cooked okay!
Paola says
Hey, I just wanted you to know, for culture and general knowledge that pimenton is a red bell pepper or green one.. You could use that one or the large ones. We in Latin America and in Spain use smoked paprika just as much as you do.. Its not the same (paprika its not the same as pimenton)
Kirsten says
I made this tonight and accidentally swapped barley for brown rice (long day at work, what can I say?). I added a little extra time so that the barley would cook through and it actually worked out really well. I also sprinkled some Parmesan cheese over the top and browned it under the broiler for a few minutes to give it a nice crust. I will definitely be making this again and with brown rice this time.
★★★★★