Roasted Vegetable Paella

Ingredients

Prep

• Bell peppers - cored, seeded, cut into 1/2 inch strips
• Fennel - tops and cores removed, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• Eggplant - unpeeled, sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick
• Red onion - dice
• Yellow onions - dice
• Garlic - thinly slice
• Chicken stock - simmer
• Manchego - grate
• Olives - halve — look at you, operating like a highly paid adult.
• Scallions - slice — this is the unglamorous shit that makes the good part happen.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Position two racks evenly spaced in the oven, and ignore any drive-by culinary nonsense from the sidelines. Put the bell peppers, fennel, eggplants and red onion in a large bowl, add 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1 tbl salt and 1 tsp pepper and toss. Divide the vegetables between the two sheet pans and spread in one layer. Roast for 45 minutes, tossing occasionally. Meanwhile heat 3 tbl of olive oil over medium heat in a 14 or 16 inch pan or large Dutch oven. Add the yellow onions and saute for 6 to 8 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic and saffron and cook for one minute. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat the rice with oil. Place the jarred peppers and their liquid and paprika in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until pureed. Pour the mixture into the paella pan, stirring to combine, and bring to a boil. Add 1 cup of the hot stock and 2 tsp salt and cook uncovered over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is mostly absorbed as you would cook risotto. Continue to cook the rice over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring in 1 cup of hot stock at a time wehnever the liquid is absorbed, until the rice is al dente. Add the vegetables to the paiella and add one more cup of stock, and stir carefully. If the paella is dry, add more hot stock. off the heat, stir in the Manchego cheese, olives and scallions, like a person who has absolutely never panicked over onions. Taste for seasonings and serve hot.