Serrano ham and artichoke mellow rice (arroz meloso con alcachofas y jamón)
You have probably noticed that artichokes are the most commonly used vegetable in this book; this is not just because it is one of my favourite vegetables, but because it gives so much flavour to paellas. I have added another big flavour gun, jamón, which luckily these days you can find in any supermarket worldwide. It gives a fantastic taste to anything you add it to.
Extract from Paella: The original one-pan dish: over 50 recipes for the Spanish classic By Omar Allibhoy (£18, 1st June 2023 published by Quadrille)
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Yield
Serves 3
Ingredients
For the Vegetable Stock
Methods
Methods for the Vegetable Stock
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 250°C/475°F/gas mark 9.
Step 2
Wash and peel the carrot and parsnip. Place the peelings in a stockpot. Remove the young leaves from both the fennel and the celery and place them in the pot too. Roughly chop all the vegetables: the green parts of the leek, tomatoes, shallots and the remaining carrot, parsnip, celery and fennel, and place it all in a large roasting pan along with the halved garlic bulb.
Step 3
Drizzle the chopped vegetables with some olive oil, season with salt and place in the oven for 45 minutes, tossing them twice through the cooking process so they brown evenly.
Step 4
Meanwhile, fill the stockpot with cold water and add all the spices, herbs and mushrooms. Bring it to the boil, then turn down the heat and allow it to simmer.
Step 5
When the roasted vegetables are ready, deglaze the pan with the white wine, scraping up any charred bits, then tip all this into the stockpot. Simmer with the lid on over a low heat for a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 4 hours. Strain through a fine sieve into a large container and store in the fridge or freezer once cool.
