Paella With Tomatoes

I went by the photo and regretted not having cored the tomatoes, as specified in the recipe. Chewing on tomato seeds was an pleasant experience.

Should the pan be covered before putting it in the oven?

Too bland, too carby.

For those of you complaining about a bland taste, throw out your 5 year old paprika and get FRESH. Smoked paprika is the best; we like the hot version.

This is absolutely AMAZING. second time making it with fresh "U-pick" tomatoes from local farm. This year I added fresh green beans from my garden (the past two weeks is "everything with green bean") before putting it into oven. it took 1/2 hour, not 15 minutes, but well worth the wait. Simple ingredients, but really special enough for guests.

So it is totally true this is best within season tomatoes but I have made it over an open fire camping using mainly canned and still a hit! I add kielbasa of the hard polish variety and arbor rice which makes it unctuous and wonderful. Saffron is strongly recommended but good paprika even more so. But if you don't have tomato paste and do have ketchup, it won't affect it much. This is a go to meal for us in the summer.

Very delicious- a true celebration of summer tomatoes! I followed the recipe to the T and it turned out great. To make it a fuller main course meal, I might add chicken sausage or some kind of bean protein next time.

This is sooo delicious. I have also added in sauteed chorizo prior to putting in the oven. Serve it with a salad and you have a complete meal. Agree that you only should make it in the summer with your own garden (or local farmer's market) tomatoes.

I had to cook this a lot longer than the recipe said, and add a lot more liquid.

Wonderful recipe! However I would argue that the saffron is not only NOT optional, but absolutely mandatory. I used Arborio rice, and a 13 ounce box of diced tomatoes in their juices for part of the liquid, to make it even more tomato-y. Also added creamy French feta and kalamata olives for serving, topped with broiled jumbo shrimp. It made a lot of leftovers, which is a very good thing.

Fave! Have been making this every year since Bittman first published the recipe as a celebration of the first really over-abundant tomato harvest from the garden. To add extra tomato umph I increase the tomatoes to about twice those called for (yes, A LOT) and pre-roast them under the broiler. Then move to a bowl, follow the recipe topping with the already pre-roasted tomatoes and their juices. The only difficult part is calibrating the proper rice:liquid ratio since the tomatoes add much water.

Good but not great. Tomato risotto was significantly better!

I have made this multiple times a month for years during tomato season. LOVE IT! Saffron is a must, as is 3 minutes under the broiler at the end to make a crust on top as well as the one on the bottom.

Added cod, anchovies, sausage, lots of paprika and crushed red pepper to replace missing tomato and tomato paste. KALE was a great addition.

Finally, a recipe that does justice to beautiful and delicious farmers market tomatoes. Usually I think that anything other than slicing them and eating them with some salt and a little pepper does a disservice to them - this recipe really makes them shine. I doubled the garlic and used 2# of tomatoes, otherwise followed exactly. I suspect that the people who have labelled this as "bland" were probably using sub-par tomatoes. With great tomatoes and my homemade vegetable stock, this was 5 stars.