Spring Vegetable Paella

From the garden

• 1½ lb asparagus, trimmed, cut into 2-inch lengths
• ½ lb flat green beans, topped and cut into 2-inch lengths
• 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
• 2 medium ripe tomatoes, halved and grated, skins discarded
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 small artichokes, trimmed to hearts and quartered (optional) · the Valencian touch when the garden has them
• 1 pinch saffron threads · a generous pinch, crumbled into the hot stock
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

From the pantry

• 1½ cups short-grain rice (bomba or arborio)
• 3½ cups vegetable stock · kept hot on a back burner
• 1½ tsp smoked paprika
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 can large white beans, drained and rinsed · stand-ins for Valencian garrofo beans
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• salt · to taste
• black pepper

1. Warm the stock with the crumbled saffron in a saucepan and hold it at a bare simmer. Steeping the threads in hot liquid is what pulls out both the color and the perfume.
2. Heat the olive oil in a 13-inch paella pan or wide skillet over medium-high. Brown the asparagus and green beans with a pinch of salt, 3–4 minutes, until spotted but still bright, then lift them onto a plate.
3. Lower the heat to medium and soften the pepper strips and artichokes, if using, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the grated tomato and cook down 5–6 minutes into a dark, jammy sofrito, then stir in the smoked paprika off the heat.
4. Add the rice and stir 1 minute to coat every grain, pour in the hot saffron stock, and season assertively with salt. Spread the rice flat across the pan and do not stir it again: that is the whole discipline of paella.
5. Simmer 10 minutes over medium, then tuck the asparagus, green beans, and white beans over the top. Drop to low and cook 8–10 minutes more, until the liquid is gone and the rice is just tender.
6. Raise the heat 60–90 seconds, listening for a faint crackle as the socarrat forms on the bottom. Rest off the heat 5 minutes under a clean towel, scatter with parsley and black pepper, and serve from the pan with lemon wedges.