Kale Paella!

This is a Bobby Flay creation, which I ate at my birthday dinner at Gato in NYC last year. It is fabulous. But, unfortunately, Gato and all NYC restaurants are closed due to the virus. To my delight, the recipe was posted on his Food Network/FaceBook page and I couldn't resist. Here are the photos of my attempt and the recipe he posted. Try it! It's really great!

Bobby Flay's recipe, as posted on Food Network:

 Bobby Flay

May 1 at 7:39 AM · 

Wild Mushroom and Kale Paella with steamed Eggs and Saffron Sauce.. this is my homespun version of GATO’s all-time customer favorite. It’s a vegetarian paella that I cooked in a cast iron pan since I didn’t have a paella pan.

I cooked short grain rice with lots of cremini mushrooms and fresh garlic and warm broth (use vegetable to keep it fully vegetarian, OR go for chicken broth) until the rice was soft. Then, I pressed it down in the pan, fired up the burner to med-high and created a crusty bottom on the rice (soccarat in Spanish). I added some sautéed kale with olive oil and garlic around the edges, and made 3 small wells in the center of the rice. Next, dropped a whole egg in each of the wells, covered the pan and let the eggs steam.

The vinaigrette is made with white vinegar, lemon juice, saffron threads, and olive oil...then drizzled it on top. It’s all finished with some lemon zest.
With 2 large spoons get under the crust and mix the crusty rice with the silky rice. Break the eggs and mix all together. Serve with some crusty bread and a good Spanish Albariño #wecook Food Network

Here is the rice soccarat I created. Tip - it may be better to make the rice separately and then drain and put into the paella pan. Experiment and see what works for you.

Here is a photo of the sautéed kale placed over the rice. I sautéed the kale early in the day, let it soften, lots of garlic and olive oil.

 

Here are the three eggs placed over the kale and rice. Because the eggs make the sauce, they should steam only a few minutes. Then, mixed with the rice and kale.

This is what is looks like all mixed up with the soccarat, kale and eggs.

Here it is plated. Delicioso!