2023 Vuelta España - Stage 6: La Vall d’Uixo to Pico del Buitre.
I intended to make this dish a few days ago, but forgot to soak my chickpeas! Technically, I also forgot to long-soak them again yesterday, so I had to quick-soak them in order to get this stage-specific dish completed in time for today’s blog post! But, I am so glad there was a delay, for as I whisked the casserole out of the oven, my girls were running out the front door to take in one of the most glorious sunset skies they’ve ever seen. It appeared as if the sky was on fire, but had so many different colors. I brought the dish out to the front table where I take most of the blog food photos and the light hit this absolutely perfectly, a feast for all senses and a mirror effect.
Fire red tomatoes, blue currants, purple-tinged sky/purple casserole dish, smoky clouds matching the hue of the oven-roasted paper of the garlic, puffy white cloud-like soft chickpeas…it really had it all. Once we dug in, the flavor lived up to the beauty of the sky as well. We squeezed out the roasted garlic from its paper onto the crispy rice topping. The sweet currants popped through the savory and supple broth-infused rice on the bottom. You need to make this dish.
Baked Rice with Currants and Chickpeas from The Food of Spain, Claudia Roden
This dish is best prepared in a ceramic cazuela. If you don’t have one, there are two alternatives: 1) place a casserole dish (I used the bottom of my tagine) in the oven while it preheats and prepare the meal in a large skillet, transferring into the warmed casserole to finish in the oven, or 2) prepare the meal in a medium or small dutch oven.
1 cup dried chickpeas
1 cup of dried currants (or raisins)
⅓ cup olive oil
1 head of garlic, unpeeled
Large tomato, peeled and chopped
1 tsp paprika
5 cups chicken stock
2.5 cups paella rice (or Arborio)
Prepare the beans. Soak the beans in water for about 8 hours, or if you forget (like I did!), place the beans in a pot and cover with several inches of water. Bring the contents to a boil and cook at a hard boil for 2 minutes. Cover the pot and turn off the fire and let sit for an hour.
Drain and place fresh water in the pot and simmer for an hour, salting the water in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Drain and reserve.
Prepare the currants. Soak the currants in warm water for 20 minutes. Drain and reserve.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the oil in your cooking vessel of choice (see headnote), along with the head of garlic and half of the currants, over medium-low heat, for about 5 minutes.
Then, add in the tomato and paprika, stirring until fragrant. Add in the chickpeas and stock, along with a pinch of salt and pepper, and bring to a boil.
Stir in the rice and a heavy pinch of salt. At this point, carefully transfer everything to the warmed casserole dish (if using). Center the garlic in the middle, tail-end up, and sprinkle over the remaining currants and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Bring the casserole to the table, providing everyone a roasted garlic clove for them to squeeze onto and mix into their portion of rice.
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