Vegan Paella

A delicious vegan-friendly alternative to a comforting and flavoursome Paella.

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A few years ago we went to Spain during winter. It was out of season, almost no tourists and even tough it was winter, we had days with temperatures up to 25 degrees. We fell in love with the country and it has now become one of our favourite countries to visit.

Everything from their food, their culture, the cities, the coast lines and the mountain areas.

That reminds me that I still need to write a post about our Spanish road trip. One of the places we visited was Valencia, a beautiful city! That is where Paella originates from.

SO, WHAT IS PAELLA

 It is one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine and is a rice based dish, traditionally made with a combination of seafood, meats and vegetables cooked with rice and spices. Traditionally it's also cooked outdoors over a fire.

VEGAN CHORIZO

I've found a few brands in the UK that have vegan "chorizo". The ones I have tried have delicious, deep flavours, perfect for this dish. If you can't find vegan chorizo, you can just add additional smoked paprika and perhaps some red chilli flakes or powder if you like.

To make this dish I used a Jamie Oliver Paella recipe and amended it to make it vegan-friendly. It is a delicious recipe, but I can't really take credit for this one.

SEITAN

I use seitan as a substitute for chicken. Seitan has a chewy texture and can be shredded into smaller pieces, which is why I find it's a good substitute.

However, if you really don't have access to seitan you could try using a Smoked Tofu. It won't have the same texture, but it will help add protein to the dish.

WHY NOT TRY ONE OF THESE

Orange Tofu (Vegan Orange Chicken)

Miso Mushroom Wontons

Butternut & Chickpea Tagine

Vegan Bobotie

Vegan Sumagiyya (Palestinian Stew)

VEGAN PAELLA

A delicious vegan-friendly alternative to a comforting and flavoursome Paella.

SERVES 4

TIME about 50 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 1 carrot, diced

• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

• 1 red bell pepper, cubed or sliced

• 70g vegan "chorizo", sliced ( I used 2 sausages)

• 120g seitan, shredded

• 1/2 a bunch curly or flat-leaf parsley, chopped

• olive oil

• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

• 1 tbsp tomato puree

• 1 organic vegetable stock cube

• 300g paella rice

• 100g frozen peas

• lemon wedges

• sea salt and crushed black pepper, to season

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat a large shallow pan or paella pan on medium and fry the onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the "chorizo", shredded seitan, red pepper, carrot, paprika and garlic and fry for another 5 minutes. Stir regularly to avoid burning.

3. Remove the parsley stalks from the leaves and finely chop the stalk before adding them to the pan.

4. Stir through the tomato puree and crumble in the vegetable stock cube.

5. Add the rice and stir for a few minutes.

6. Pour in about 750 ml boiling water and season with sea salt and black pepper.

7. Cover with a lid and bring to boil. Once it's boiling reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir regularly and add more water if needed.

8. Add the peas, cover with the lid and coof for another 5 minutes or until cooked.

9. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed before serving with the parsley leaves and lemon wedges.