by Celebrity Chef Yotam Ottolenghi
Ingredients (serves six)
- 4tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely diced (around 290g)
- 2tsp sweet paprika
- ½tsp smoked paprika
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 250ml dry sherry
- 500g paella rice
- 1.5l chicken stock, warmed
- 1tsp saffron threads
- 3 long strips of orange skin
- 400g French beans, blanched
- 2 small courgettes, sliced on an angle 1cm thick
- 2 green peppers, topped and tailed and cut into strips 1cm thick
- 200g cherry tomatoes
- 2 lemons, quartered
- 5 spring onions, ends removed, cut into 6cm lengths and quartered lengthways
- 1kg whole prawns, shells on
For the parsley oil:
- 40g parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 green chillies, roughly chopped
- 90ml olive oil
- Salt
Method
For parsley oil, blitz parsley, chilli, olive oil and pinch of salt in a food processor until almost smooth but maintaining some texture.
Heat one tablespoon of oil in a paella or large sauté pan on medium high. Saute onion for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft and glossy but not brown.
Stir in spices and garlic. Cook for a minute. Pour over sherry
and bubble for three minutes until reduced by half. Add rice. Cook, stirring, for two minutes, until glossy. Add stock, saffron, orange and large pinch of salt. Gently stir so rice is even. Simmer for 20 minutes until rice is cooked but still retains a slight bite and stock is absorbed. Remove from heat and leave somewhere warm.
Meanwhile, place a griddle pan on high heat. Toss beans with half a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Grill for one minute, until they start to blister and darken. Place in a bowl. Toss courgettes with half a tablespoon of oil and pinch of salt then grill, until lightly charred. Put in bowl with beans. Repeat with peppers.
Mix tomatoes with half a tablespoon of oil and a pinch of salt. Grill for two minutes until they start to char and split. Grill spring onions for 30 seconds. Lightly caramelise each side of lemons on grill for 30 seconds.
Mix whole prawns with pinch of salt and half a tablespoon of olive oil. Grill for one minute each side. Remove immediately once cooked.
Spoon two thirds of the rice onto a platter. Top with vegetables, followed by more rice, gradually building layers outwards and upwards, but not too high. Scatter prawns on top, lightly pushing some of them into the rice. Add lemon wedges and drizzle over parsley oil. Serve immediately.
