Recipes Spring Vegetable Paella 3.0 (1,328) 1 Review The mushrooms, asparagus, spinach and peas in this paella make it especially appropriate for a spring dinner party. By Chandra Ram Chandra Ram Instagram Website Chandra Ram leads the digital food strategy for Food & Wine. She has 15 years experience writing and editing food content and developing recipes. A former restaurant cook and server, she also writes cookbooks. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 10, 2023 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Active Time: 40 mins Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins Servings: 6 This paella is the perfect way to welcome spring — with lots of green, seasonal vegetables and a recipe that works well to entertain a small group. Cooking the paella in the oven makes this paella relatively hands-off, and easy on the cook. It also means the rice is cooked perfectly and the vegetables are perfectly tender; adding the radicchio at the end gives it extra crunch and color. The preserved lemon laced throughout the dish brightens the flavors, adding floral notes that complement the umami of the anchovies. If you’d like to make this vegetarian, simply add extra mushrooms in place of the sausage, omit the anchovy, and use vegetable stock. Serve this with Albariño or another light white wine. Ingredients 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided 8 ounces uncooked sausage links (pork, chicken, rabbit, or duck) 1 medium-size (9-ounce) yellow onion, finely chopped (1 cup) 4 ounces fresh cremini mushrooms (about 6 mushrooms), quartered 2 teaspoons kosher salt 4 anchovy fillets packed in oil (from 1 [2-ounce] can), drained 4 teaspoons garlic cloves, minced (4 teaspoons) 2 cups uncooked short-grain white rice (such as Spanish bomba or Italian arborio) 4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock 1 tablespoon finely chopped preserved lemon 8 ounces fresh pencil-thin asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces (1 1/4 cups) 1 cup chopped fresh spinach (1 ounce) 1 cup frozen or fresh sweet peas 1/2 cup chopped radicchio (from 1 small radicchio) 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley Directions Gather all ingredients. Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 12-inch oven-safe skillet over medium. Add sausage; cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove sausage from skillet, and let cool 5 minutes. Cut into bite-sized pieces, and set aside. Do not wipe skillet clean. Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Add onion, mushrooms, and salt to skillet; cook over medium, stirring often, until onion is translucent and mushrooms are soft, about 4 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, push onion and mushrooms to skillet edges; add 1 tablespoon of the oil to center of skillet. Add anchovies and garlic to center of skillet; cook, stirring and smashing anchovies into pieces using a wooden spoon, until garlic is fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Stir garlic-anchovy mixture into onion-mushroom mixture. Push mixture back to skillet edges; add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to center of skillet. Add rice to center of skillet; stir to coat in oil. Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Stir stock and preserved lemon into mixture in skillet. Stir in reserved sausage. Bring to a simmer over medium. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, uncovered and undisturbed, until rice is almost tender and liquid is almost fully absorbed, about 18 minutes. Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Stir in asparagus, spinach, and peas. Transfer skillet to preheated oven. Bake until rice and vegetables are tender, 12 to 14 minutes. Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Carefully remove skillet from oven, and return to stovetop. Cook over medium-high, undisturbed, until a soccarat (crust) forms on bottom of paella, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in radicchio, making sure to not break up the soccarat on the bottom of the paella. Top with parsley and serve. Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Suggested Pairing Sauvignon Blanc is almost alone in its ability to match both artichokes and asparagus, two normally troubling foods for wines. Pungent, yet balanced, a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand is what you want here. Rate it Print