Intro from Anna

"I’ve been buying and cooking Brindisa products since I was a young chef 20 years ago. In my opinion Brindisa food is unmatched in its quality and flavour. Monika and Brindisa are true food pioneers, bringing so many products into the UK and into my kitchen from my beloved jarred beans to smoked paprika. Many have followed but Brindisa is the original and will always have my heart."

Recipe

A few things to say about paella: while recognising I am absolutely no expert, I have found it’s best made in a thin-based paella-style pan over a gas flame. Failing that, whatever large shallow (to remove the liquid quickly) sauté pan you have will work, the thinner-based the better.

The rice must be short-grain so it won’t dry out when toasted, such as Calasparra. I have been told that risotto rice works as well too.

DO NOT STIR. This is not a risotto. The lack of stirring is what gives you the crisp, browned, sticky, chewy layer of ‘socarrat’ which is the main reason I eat paella.

Don’t scrimp on the olive oil – the oil and your generosity with it is what makes this.

Method (serves 4-6):

Heat the stock and soak the saffron

Put 1 litre vegetable stock in a pan and add all the trimmings to add some more depth to the stock. Soak the saffron in 50ml warm water.

Fry the vegetables

Heat about 4 tablespoons of oil in your pan, add 2 peeled and finely chopped onions, 1 peeled and finely chopped carrot and 1 finely chopped bulb of fennel and sauté for about 10 minutes until really soft and sweet and beginning to brown. Add 1 deseeded and finely chopped red pepper, 2 finely chopped ripe tomatoes, 4 peeled and finely chopped cloves of garlic and 1 heaped teaspoon of smoked paprika and cook for another few minutes. Add the soaked saffron and it’s water, 100ml white wine and 100ml tomato passata and cook for another few minutes.

Add the rice

Add 300g short-grain paella rice to the pan and stir it well to coat, adding more oil here if you think you need it. Strain the stock. Shuffle the rice into an even layer and add about 800ml of the stock. Simmer hard, no stirring, for 10 minutes, by which time a good amount of the liquid should have been absorbed but it should still feel like there is enough for it to cook for another 10 minutes. If not, add some of the remaining stock. Remember, no stirring.

Add the butter beans and artichokes

Next, scatter over a 700g jar of drained butter beans and a chopped 400g jar of artichokes and cook, without stirring, for another 8–10 minutes. Again, if the rice looks too dry before it’s cooked (check by trying some – it should be just al dente but not too hard or chalky), add a little more stock, but do not stir it in.

Crisp up the bottom (the socarrat)

The key to the crispy bottom (the socarrat) is to let it cook for a while after all the liquid has been absorbed. You should hear a sizzle or an almost rain/popcorn popping-like noise. Leave it for about 30 seconds then turn off the heat – you should begin to see the edges crisp. The thicker the base of the pan you have, the harder this is. If you serve and haven’t got a crispy bottom, drizzle a little oil around the edge of the pan and put it back on a high heat foranother 5 minutes, or so. Take it off the heat and cover to allow it to rest for 10 minutes then top with lemon wedges, a small bunch of chopped parsley and any fennel fronds.