Cabbage and Chopped Meat Paella

 

This Cabbage and Chopped Meat Paella is very untraditional. We liked it. It was very tasty. However for what ever we didn't get the crust (socarrat) which is the true test of Paella making. We need to try it again.

Cabbage and Chopped Meat Paella (Arroz con Repollo y Carne Picada)

Paella!

 

Although this rice is certainly made in the style of a paella, its ingredients--bacon, ground beef, cabbage, and ham- even though very Spanish--are not conventional additions to a paella. Nevertheless, I think it is excellent, a change of pace, and well worth trying.

 

Serves 4

 

3       cups chicken broth

⅛      teaspoon crumbled thread saffron

3       thin slices lean bacon

4       tablespoons olive oil

¾      pound lean ground beef

Salt

1       large onion, chopped

1       jalapeño pepper, cored, seeded, and minced (about 2 teaspoons)

2       tablespoons diced Spanish serrano ham or prosciutto, cut from a ¼-inch-thick slice

¼      head (about ½ pound) cabbage, chopped

¼      teaspoon sweet paprika, preferably Spanish smoked

1½    cups imported Spanish or

Arborio short-grain rice 1 bunch scallions (about ¼ pound), chopped

10     snow peas, cut in julienne strips

 

Preheat the oven to 400° F for gas oven, 450° F for electric.

Combine the broth and sallron in a saucepan and keep hot over the lowest heat.

In a paella pan measuring about 13 inches at its widest point (or in a shallow casserole of a similar size), fry the bacon strips until crisp. Drain on paper towels, crumble, and reserve. Pour off the fat or leave some in the pan for added flavor.

Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the pan and sauté the ground beef, sprinkling with salt to taste and stirring and separating into small pieces, until it loses its color. Remove to a warm platter. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and sauté the onion. pepper, and ham until the vegetables are softened Add the cabbage and cook briefly until slightly willed, then sir in the paprika. Add the rice and coat well with the pan mixture.

Pour in the broth, add the scallions, ground beet, and half of the bacon, and bring to a boil Taste for salt and continue to boil, stirring occasionally, until the rice is no longer soupy but sufficient liquid remains to continue cooking the rice, about 5 minutes. 

Transfer to the oven and cook 10-12 minutes in a gas oven, 15-20 minutes electric, until the rice is almost al dente. Remove to a warm spot, cover with foil, and let sit 5-10 minutes, until the rice is cooked to taste. Sprinkle with the julienned snow peas and the remaining bacon before serving.