BBQ Artichoke heart, olive and green bean paella

Ingredients - Serves 6-8

Tomato sofrito –

1 white onion – finely diced or grated

3 plump cloves of garlic – crushed and finely diced or grated

4 large ripe tomatoes – finely chopped or grated

pinch of saffron

1 tsp paprika (lightly toasted in a dry pan)

4 generous glugs of olive oil

For the paella –

5-6 artichoke hearts in oil – halved and barbecued

150g fresh green beans

150g green olives – Castelvetrano is a favourite

3 tbsp sundried tomatoes (I used sunratomato, which has a little chilli and fennel seeds included)

450g Bomba rice

glass of white wine

1750ml hot vegetable stock

Garnish –

small bunch of parsley – finely chopped

1 lemon – quartered and squeezed over paella ahead of serving

Cheat’s aioli –

3-4 cloves of garlic – peeled, minced

juice of half a lemon

sprinkle of sea salt flakes

150g mayonnaise

½ tsp Dijon mustard

several turns of freshly ground black pepper

Instructions –

Begin by making up your tomato sofrito.

Place a pan over a high heat. Once hot add the oil followed by your onions and garlic, reduce the heat and allow to turn translucent avoid browning. Next add the paprika and saffron followed by the grated tomato. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes or until the liquid cooks off. Set to one side until you’re ready to cook your paella.

Before cooking ensure your coals are white.

Start by lightly charring the artichoke hearts and green beans on the bbq (set the beans in the opposite direction to wire rack so you don’t lose any). Char for several minutes just until the lines of the rack show. Set to one side.

Set your paella pan on the furthest setting/distance from the coals so to not overcook the rice.

Add in your tomato sofrito and oil used when making it. Next add in the olives and sundried tomatoes heating briefly before adding in your rice. Once the rice has been added stir to evenly coat and allow to toast a little for a minute or so.

Next add in your wine, again whilst stirring. Once the wine has evaporated off add in your stock, cooking for around 8 minutes over the highest heat. Add in the green beans and artichokes and continue to cook for a further 7-8 minutes (you can lower the heat here if cooking on a hob), possibly a little longer. The aim is for the stock to have evaporated and the rice to still have a bite to it and the socarrat to form on the base of the pan. This is the crispy layer of rice (the best bit in my opinion) that you come back for after your first helping!

Leave the paella to rest for a few minutes prior to serving then place in the centre of the table (on something heatproof) for everyone to help themselves.

Garnish with a generous sprinkle of fresh parsley and a good squeeze of lemon juice.

Serve with a generous helping of aioli. Simply blitz together all the aioli ingredients, taste and adjust seasoning to your preference.