TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Arroz al hornoValencian Oven-Baked Rice
Rice absorbs the flavour of pork and chickpeas and is baked with potatoes, tomatoes and a whole head of garlic. This oven-baked rice dish is rooted in inland Valencia.
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Ingredients (4 servings)
- Short-grain rice (Bomba rice)320 g
- Pork spare ribsBone-in, cut into chunks500 g
- Pork belly150 g
- Morcilla (blood sausage)160 g
- Cooked chickpeas, drained150 g
- Potatoes250 g
- Tomatoes150g grated and 150g sliced into rounds300 g
- Garlic1 whole head50 g
- Olive oil60 ml
- Sweet paprika3 g
- Saffrona little
- Water1L for simmering and 100ml for adjustment1100 ml
- Salt8 g
Method
Cut the pork and vegetables evenly
- 1 Prepare 500g spare ribs in chunks of about 5cm and pat dry.
- 2 Cut 150g pork belly into 2cm cubes; peel 250g potatoes and cut into 5mm-thick rounds.
- 3 Grate 150g tomatoes, leaving the skins behind, and cut the remaining 150g into 1cm-thick rounds.
- 4 Remove only the thin outer skin from 1 whole head of garlic weighing 50g, and drain 150g cooked chickpeas.
Ready when
Continue when the meat is dry and the vegetable rounds are evenly thick.
Brown the pork and make the cooking broth
- 1 Heat 30ml oil in a pot and brown the ribs and pork belly over medium heat for 8 minutes.
- 2 Add 1L water and 5g salt, bring to a boil, skim and simmer over low heat for 25 minutes.
- 3 Remove the meat, measure 700ml cooking broth and add 0.15g saffron. If needed, top up using no more than the 100ml water reserved for adjustment.
Ready when
Continue when a skewer enters the ribs and the broth has taken on the flavour of the meat.
Prepare the potatoes and rice base
- 1 Preheat the oven to 220°C.
- 2 Heat the remaining 30ml oil in a frying pan, cook the potatoes and whole garlic head over medium heat for 6 minutes, then remove.
- 3 Cook the grated tomato for 5 minutes, add 3g paprika, 320g rice, the chickpeas and 3g salt, and stir for 1 minute.
Ready when
Continue when the tomato’s water has evaporated and the rice is coated with oil.
Bake the rice in a shallow dish
- 1 Spread the rice, chickpeas and meat in a shallow, ovenproof dish 30cm in diameter and pour in 700ml hot broth.
- 2 Arrange the potatoes, tomato rounds and 160g morcilla cut into 4 pieces, placing the garlic in the centre.
- 3 Bake uncovered at 220°C for 20–25 minutes.
Ready when
Continue when the surface liquid has disappeared, the rice has no hard core and the morcilla is hot through the centre.
Rest the baked rice
- 1 Remove from the oven, rest for 5 minutes and bring the dish to the table.
Ready when
The rice is ready when it has settled, the surface is dry and the grains separate.
About this dish
Arroz al horno is a Valencian rice dish baked in an earthenware dish. Pork, sausages and chickpeas are combined with tomatoes and garlic from the fields for family meals and celebrations.
People once placed the prepared rice in a shallow earthenware dish and carried it to a nearby bread oven to be cooked. The custom of taking the dish from home to the oven also gave rise to the nickname arròs passejat, meaning “rice that goes for a walk”.
Alongside paella cooked in a shallow pan, the food culture of this rice-growing region preserves rice dishes traditionally made in the town’s ovens.
Bring the full course home next weekend.
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