Five Spanish rice recipes beyond paella

Spain is one of the richest and most proactive countries in gastronomy, and Spanish rice dishes are one of the most requested dishes in this mixture of ancestral dishes and molecular and avant-garde cuisine.

And an example of this is the recipes with rice that we present below: From the unmistakable Valencian paella in its original recipe to other lesser-known recipes, which are laborious but spectacular.

Delicious Spanish rice dishes

Valencian paella

Although there are hundreds of varieties of this dish, we bring you the authentic and traditional Valencian paella.

Ingredients

• 700 grams of rice, preferably D.O. Valencia
• 1 kilo of free-range chicken
• 1/2 kilo rabbit
• 1/4 flat green peas
• 1/4 garrofón (also known as lime bean)
• 1/2 kilo of crushed natural tomato
• 50 milliliters of extra virgin olive oil
• Some strands of saffron
• 1/2 tablespoon sweet paprika
• Water, the necessary
• Go out to taste.

Preparation

1. Ask the butcher to cut the chicken and rabbit for paella.
2. Remove the strands to the pods of the peas and cut into pieces of about 3 centimeters.
3. Heat the oil in a paella pan over medium heat. When hot, add the meat and season.
4. When the meat is well browned, incorporate the garrofón. Sauté.
5. Add the saffron and paprika and then, while moving, the tomato. Let fry.
6. Add water in the ratio of three glasses of water to one of rice.
7. Let cook for 30 minutes over medium-high heat. Check seasoning.
8. When the water is already more or less under the rivets of the handles, add the rice evenly throughout the paella pan.
9. Let cook for about 15 or 20 minutes, or until the water has been consumed. Do not move from this moment.
10. Turn off the heat and let stand for 5 minutes covered with a large cloth.

Black rice with aioli

This is one of the typical Spanish rice dishes of the Levante. In the Alicante towns of Torrevieja, Guardamar, Villajoyosa, and Santa Pola you can not miss the menus of the restaurants.

Ingredients

For rice:

• 1/2 green pepper
• 1/2 cambray onion
• 1 tomato
• 2 squid
• 180 grams of round rice
• 1/2 liter of fish fumet
• 3 sachets of squid ink
• Extra virgin olive oil, the necessary
• Go out to taste.

For ali-oli

• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 egg
• 200 milliliters of vinegar
• 200 milliliters of olive oil
• Go out to taste.

Rice preparation

1. Cut the pepper and onion into small pieces.
2. Pour into the paella pan a splash of oil and poach the pepper and onion, for 10 minutes, over medium heat.
3. Incorporate the peeled tomato and cut into small pieces.
4. Sauté on the fire until poached, for 10 or 15 minutes.
5. Clean the squid and cut.
6. Add them to the stir-fry so that they cook between five and seven minutes.
7. Integrate the rice in the paella pan and mix with the rest of the ingredients for three or five minutes.
8. Add a pinch of salt and pour the fish fumet.
9. Spread the squid ink.
10. Leave on fire for 20 minutes, first over high heat and then low
11. Once off, cover the rice with a dry, clean cloth for at least 5 minutes.

Preparation of aioli

Beat the egg, a splash of vinegar, the oil, a clove of peeled garlic, and a pinch of salt.

Arroz a banda

Arroz a banda is a recipe for fishermen, typical of the coast of Alicante, although its popularity extends throughout the Spanish Levante.

Ingredients

• 600 grams of bomba rice
• 1 and 1/2 liters of fish fumet
• 350 grams of cuttlefish
• 1 kilo of prawns
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• Saffron, extra virgin olive oil and salt to taste.

Preparation

1. Make the fish fumet.
2. Cut the cuttlefish into cubes.
3. Add olive oil in a paella pan and add the cuttlefish. Cook over medium heat. Add the diced prawns. Mix well.
4. When the prawns acquire color, add the peeled and grated tomato.
5. Sauté for a few minutes, moving at all times.
6. Add the bomba rice and move. When the rice acquires color, leave on heat under 5 minutes.
7. Add water in the ratio of 2 and a half cups to one of rice. Stop moving from this point.
8. Add the pre-roasted saffron and sweet paprika.
9. Pour the fumet.
10. Increase the temperature until it boils and lower so that it is over medium heat. Let cook for 20 minutes. If you want a more brothy rice, you can turn it off after 15 minutes.
11. Turn off and let stand covered with a clean cloth for 5 minutes.

Baked rice

This Valencian recipe is cooked in a clay pot and in the oven. It emerged as a way to take advantage of the remains of the stew: chickpeas and pork derivatives such as black pudding or chorizo.

Ingredients

• 300 grams of bomba rice
• 4 small onion sausages
• 100 grams of cooked chickpeas
• 600 grams of cooked broth
• 4 pork ribs
• 1 tomato
• 1 potato
• 4 slices bacon
• 1 head of garlic
• Saffron, salt and olive oil to taste.

Preparation

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them finely. Fry them in a pan with plenty of oil. Reserve.
2. In a pan with a splash of oil, sancochar the previously cut tomato. Reserve.
3. Cut the pork ribs in half, season with salt. Brown in a pan and set aside.
4. In the same pan of the ribs, fry the bacon cut into small pieces. When ready, book along with the ribs.
5. Sauté the black puddings in the pan. Reserve with the rest of the meats.
6. In the same pan, add saffron, three tablespoons of tomato sauce, rice and chickpeas.
7. Stir all the ingredients well so that the flavors are integrated.
8. Place everything in a clay pot. A typical presentation involves putting a head of garlic in the center.
9. Pour the boiling broth and cook in the oven for 20 minutes at 220º C.

Rice a la zamorana

Of all the Spanish rice dishes, this is one of the most requested specialties in the restaurants of the province of Zamora. The peasants prepared it with the by-products of the pig.

Ingredients

• 1 pig’s ear
• 400 grams of pork tube
• 100 grams of cured ham
• 300 grams of rice
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 small turnip
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• Olive oil and salt to taste
• 1 pinch of oregano
• 1 sprig of thyme.

Preparation

1. Heat over medium heat a splash of olive oil in a wide, low pot.
2. Add the onion, turnip and finely chopped garlic. Let them poach over medium heat for fifteen minutes.
3. Add the paprika, thyme and oregano. Stir.
4. Integrate the clean and chopped ear and trunk with the chopped ham.
5. Cover with water and season with salt.
6. Let cook for an hour over medium heat.
7. When the meats begin to get tender, preheat the oven to 200ºC.
8. Add the rice and let it boil.
9. Put in the oven for half an hour. Take out when you see that the stew dried and that the rice is on point.

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