Hello friends.
It’s been quite the year, hasn’t it? I’m utterly fed up of cooking for myself and have fallen quite out of love with my kitchen. Enforced periods spent at home and watching the pennies with a hawk-like eye have left my dinners somewhat simple, lazy and repetitive over recent months.
Which is why I wanted to share this recipe for Valencian baked rice, which I sought out after seeing someone make it on Masterchef. I watched a Spanish mamá make this on YouTube and have translated the recipe for you here.
It’s delicious and very easy, and about as far from vegetarian as imaginable. Best of all, it’s quick to make and leaves little washing up. What’s not to love?
Serves: 4
Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 155g unsmoked bacon lardons (£2.69 for 2 at ASDA)
- 750g Pork belly slices (about £3.10), each cut into 4 pieces
- 1 x black pudding, roughly chopped
- 2 x salad tomatoes (one sliced, one grated)
- 1 x potato, peeled and sliced into 1/2cm rounds
- 1 x bulb of garlic, with its papery outer layers removed
- 1/2 tin of chickpeas (drained)
- Paella rice
- 1tsp table salt
- 1tsp smoked paprika
- Chicken stock
- Olive oil
Method
- Preheat the oven to 250°C (230°C fan). Use a sharp knife to score the bulb of garlic around the centre to a depth of about half a centimetre.
- Coat the bottom of a frying pan with oil and add the bulb of garlic, then the slices of potato. Turn them the hot oil until crispy, then remove the potato slices using tongs and transfer them to an oven-proof casserole. Leave the garlic in the oil.
- Add the lardons to the hot oil and fry until crisp and brown. Again, remove and transfer to the casserole. Repeat with the pork belly slices and black pudding.
- Remove the garlic bulb and place into the centre of the casserole.
- In the same frying pan, retain the oil and accumulated bacon fats, and add the grated tomato. Reduce by half.
- Add the chickpeas to the tomato, then the salt, paprika and rice. You can use as much rice as you want, depending on how many people you want to feed. I used a teacup.
- Stir the rice and chickpeas to coat in the tomato-infused oil, then transfer to the casserole.
- Add chicken stock. You should measure this by volume and add one and a half the volume of stock to rice (so, one and a half teacups in my case).
- Ensure all the rice is submerged in the stock, then dress the top with the sliced tomato.
- Place the casserole, uncovered, into the preheated oven. After 10 minutes, reduce the heat by 30°C and cook for a further 10-12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
The Spend-Shy Chef 