Traditional Spanish arroz al horno (oven cooked rice)

Spanish Arroz al horno is a traditional rice recipe, that originated in the Comunidad Valenciana (Valencian Community), which is the region where I'm from. It's cooked in the oven using a round font made out of clay. This recipe originated as a way to use the leftovers of other dishes, such as puchero. Nowadays, it's sometimes made as a standalone dish, but sometimes still made with leftovers. There are several variants of this dish, depending on where you live. I will go as far as to say that each town has its own version of this dish, or even each family!. This is the way my partner and I make it, which might be slightly different from someone else's. 

I think it's important to mention that this is not paella. Paella is another type of rice based dish which is typically cooked in a specific type of pan also called paella. Both are what we call "dry rice", which means that the broth or water used to cook the rice has completely evaporated, but they're quite different. I do actually think that arroz al horno is way better than paella. To be honest, paella is a bit overrated in my opinion, specially the most popular type of paella that you see everywhere. 

As I mentioned earlier, this rice is cooked using a clay font. I know some restaurants cook it using a metal font, so they can make more for customers. If you can't find a clay font, you can use a metal one. However, in a time when slow cookers and LeCreusette-ish type of pans are popular, I don't think you will have trouble finding something similar. 

For the ingredient list, there might be a couple of things that could be hard to get outside Spain. However, I will try to explain as well as possible what it is, so you can find the closest ingredient available in your area. 

Ingredients: 

• 400 grams of rice.
• 1'5 liters of broth/stock. We use the broth we get from puchero. 
• 200 grams of canned chickpeas.
• 400-500 grams of pork ribs, chopped. 
• 2 blanquets. Blanquet is a pork based sausage that contains pork rind, bacon and lean, all mixed with egg and seasoning. Try to go for a non-spicy one. 
• 2 botifarra/morcilla. Morcilla is a sausage made out of cooked blood, mixed often with pork. There are many variants of this sausage, even international ones such as black pudding (UK) or bloedworst (Belgium). Sometimes it can contain onion or rice, but I would recommend not getting those. 
• 1 garlic head.
• 1 potato.
• 1 tomato. You can use a second one to decor.
• 1 teaspoon of sweet pepper powder
• Salt and pepper. 
• Olive oil

Botifarra (the dark one) and blanquet (the light one)

Servings: 4-5

Cooking time: 1 h 30 min approximately (between preparation and cooking). 

Temperature: 220ºC

The very first step is to heat the broth in a pot. Use a low heat, so meanwhile you can prepare the rest of ingredients. 

While the broth is heating up, clean the meat, removing any excess fat. Wash it and rinse it. Once is clean, salt and pepper it. 

Put some olive oil in a pan and let it heat for a while. Add your ribs and cook them. Don't worry if you see some blood coming out of the ribs, it's normal. Once they're cooked, set aside. 

While they cook, peel a potato. Cut it in slices of 0.5 cm approximately and set aside. 

Using a knife, make a few incisions on your botifarra and blanquet, to prevent them from breaking. 

In the same skillet you used for the rib, mark the botifarra and blanquet. If you don't seal them with a bit of heat, they will explode once they're in the oven. You can also mark your garlic head, but this is optional. 

Once they're marked set them aside. Pour more oil into the pan and cook your potatoes. Once they're cooked, set them aside. 

While the potatoes cook, rinse your chickpeas. Usually with canned chickpeas, you will see some foam coming out. Rinse them until that foam is gone and the water runs clear.

Measure the rice. We usually use around 400 grams for 4 servings. 

Peel and cut a tomato as tiny as possible. 

Pour the tomato into your pan and cook it for a big until it starts turning orange.

While it cooks it's time to cut your blanquet (remember, the light one) into slices. It's also a good time to preheat your oven at 220ºC (428ºF) with heat up and down (no ventilation). 

Add the rice to the pan with the tomato and let it cook for a while. 

Add a teaspoon of sweet paprika and stir. You have to be fast and stir it constantly, because if it burns it leaves a bitter taste.

Add the chickpeas and stir.

Put the rice into the clay font and add the ribs. 

Start adding the broth/stock to the font. Give the font a gentle shake from time to time, so everything will spread evenly. 

Add broth until the rice is covered. 

Start adding the rest of the ingredients on top, starting with the morcilla and the potatoes. Imagine you're decorating the dish. 

Now, add the rest of the ingredients, like the slices of blanquet, a whole garlic head and some tomato slices to decor (tomato is optional).

Cook in the oven at 220ºC for 40 minutes approximately. Keep an eye on it once it hits the 30 minute mark. When the broth has completely evaporated, your rice should be cooked. This is what you should have. 

Let it sit for a few minutes and start serving. You can mix this rice with mayo or a sauce called ajoaceite (mashed garlic sauce). Some people will mash a garlic clover (from the garlic we just cooked) and mix it with the rice. It's just a matter of personal preference. 

I know that this is quite a time-consuming dish, so that's why it's a "weekend dish" for us. However, I do think it's worth every single minute spent cooking. Plus, if you cook with someone else, it will take a bit less time. 

So what do you guys think of arroz al horno? Will you try to cook it? Will you be willing to try this if you ever visit Spain?

I hope you're all staying safe and healthy. See you on my next blog post, which should be up around mid-May. 

M.C.