Delicious…it’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of this arroz al horno dish! I love rice dishes in general, but my favourites have got to be risottos and paella. This Spanish dish is made using paella rice and is baked in the oven. If you love flavours typical in Spanish food – pimenton and chorizo – then I think you’ll agree that this dish is a winner!
David and I first had arroz al horno when we were on holiday in Denia with friends in November 2018. The food our hotel served was absolutely amazing and this sharing dish was on the menu one night. Their version had small pork ribs in it, along with white beans…this was the first oven baked ‘paella’ style dish that we’d had with beans in it, and we both really enjoyed it.
This recipe is a slightly varied version of Diana Henry’s recipe that can be found on the BBC Good Food website. We did make Diana’s version and it was delicious. A couple of weeks after making it, we fancied it again, however, as we’re currently experiencing the COVID 19 pandemic, getting some ingredients from the local supermarket has been difficult.
We had some chicken breast and black pudding slices in the freezer and some chorizo already in the fridge so thought the chicken could replace the pork belly slices and the chorizo could replace the bacon lardons…we were right – it really was yum!
As the recipe states, you can use any white beans, however, it’s always been butter beans that we’ve used…might try cannellini or haricot beans the next time.
So, let’s get cooking…and hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as we do and make it again and again!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 450g chicken breast butterflied then diced (chicken thigh meat is good too)
- 140g black pudding roughly chopped
- 135g chorizo diced
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 red pepper halved, deseeded and sliced
- 1 large tomato chopped
- 4 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 2 tsp sweet pimenton or smoked paprika
- ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1 x 400g can white beans drained (you can use haricot, butter beans or cannellini – we’ve been using butter beans)
- 600ml chicken stock
- 3 thyme or rosemary sprigs (we’ve tried it with both)
- 185g paella rice
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
- Heat half the oil in a deep frying or sauté pan (or shallow casserole dish) measuring around 30cm in diameter. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and then over a high heat, brown the diced chicken on both sides, in batches if required, then transfer to a bowl.
- Add the remaining oil to the pan and lower the heat to medium, then add the black pudding and chorizo and fry all over for 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon.
- Fry the onion and peppers for around 5 minutes until soft and pale gold, then add the tomato and cook for another minute. Add the garlic, pimenton and chilli flakes and cook for another 2 minutes, then put the chicken, black pudding and chorizo back in the pan.
- Add stock first and deglaze the pan, then add the beans and whichever herb you’re using, and bring everything to the boil.
- Sprinkle the rice around the chicken, pushing it underneath the stock. Let the stock come to the boil again, season well, then transfer to the oven (leave it uncovered)
- Cook for 20 mins without stirring, then check to see how the rice is doing. The rice should be tender and the stock absorbed. If it’s not ready, put back in the oven for another 5 mins, then check again. Taste for seasoning.
- Eat and enjoy!
Arroz al Horno
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 450g chicken breast butterflied then diced (chicken thigh meat is good too)
- 140g black pudding roughly chopped
- 135g chorizo diced
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 red pepper halved, deseeded and sliced
- 1 large tomato chopped
- 4 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 2 tsp sweet pimenton or smoked paprika
- 0.5 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1 x 400g can white beans drained (you can use haricot, butter beans or cannellini – we’ve been using butter beans)
- 600ml chicken stock
- 3 thyme or rosemary sprigs we’ve tried it with both
- 185g paella rice
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
- Heat half the oil in a deep frying or sauté pan (or shallow casserole dish) measuring around 30cm in diameter. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and then over a high heat, brown the diced chicken on both sides, in batches if required, then transfer to a bowl.
- Add the remaining oil to the pan and lower the heat to medium, then add the black pudding and chorizo and fry all over for 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon.
- Fry the onion and peppers for around 5 minutes until soft and pale gold, then add the tomato and cook for another minute. Add the garlic, pimenton and chilli flakes and cook for another 2 minutes, then put the chicken, black pudding and chorizo back in the pan.
- Add stock first and deglaze the pan, then add the beans and whichever herb you're using, and bring everything to the boil.
- Sprinkle the rice around the chicken, pushing it underneath the stock. Let the stock come to the boil again, season well, then transfer to the oven (leave it uncovered)
- Cook for 20 mins without stirring, then check to see how the rice is doing. The rice should be tender and the stock absorbed. If it’s not ready, put back in the oven for another 5 mins, then check again. Taste for seasoning.
- Eat and enjoy!
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