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1
Start boiling the water or broth in a separate pot.
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2
Ideally, you want to use a wide, shallow pan with a lot of surface area (a paella pan is best) so you can slightly crisp a good portion of the rice towards the end of the cooking process, but a deep pot is ok, too, which allows you to make for more people.
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3
Just be sure to serve it right away, so the rice on top doesn't make the rice underneath mushy.
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4
If you do get your hands on a paella pan, make sure the burner has a wide diameter so the pan is uniformly heated (you can rent a propane burner and a large pan for an outdoor party).
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5
In a paella pan or pot, start to heat the oil and once warm toss the green peppers and cook for about 5 minutes.
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6
Then, toss in chopped onion, garlic and red pepper.
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7
When the onion is cooked, toss in the asparagus and the peas.
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8
After about 8 minutes, add diced tomatoes and let it simmer about 5 minutes more uncovered.
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9
Meanwhile, in a mortar and pestle, mash a little bit of garlic, the parsley and the saffron, with a little bit of salt so that it doesn't slip, and it wet it with a couple of soup spoonfuls of temperate broth or water.
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10
Mash into a paste.
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11
Once all the vegetables are cooked, add the boiling broth or water, salt and the saffron paste.
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12
Then, add the rice and stir it ONLY once.
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13
Let it cook (low heat) uncovered about 20 minutes (never stir the rice because it will get mushy)
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14
Once the rice is cooked and the broth has been absorbed, remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for no more than 5 minutes.
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15
Serve immediately.
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16
Serve it with lemon to squeeze over the rice.
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Also, you can add whatever other vegetables you like, artichokes and/or zucchini.
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18
Whatever you choose to throw in, just add it at the time you'd add the asparagus in this recipe.
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19
Enjoy!
