Spanish Rice with Chickpeas and Chorizo

Spanish Rice with Chorizo

Discovered this dish last year when we were going around the world and it was the month of Spain.  I happened to have a terra cotta cazuela so I thought it would be fun to use it for an authentic dish.

Cazuelas are sturdy clay pots which are safe to use in the oven and on the stovetop, if properly cured. Here's a website with an assortment of them: La Tienda, a purveyor of Spanish goods.   I got mine a long time ago at Williams-Sonoma.  Sometimes I see smaller ones at TJMaxx.

If you don't have a cazuela, just start the dish in a large saucepan and then transfer it to an oven safe casserole.

The chickpeas, and the sweet currants, go well with the garlic and tomatoes.  It is an unusual combination but really tasty.

I made the dish again recently, and I made it even better by adding spicy chorizo sausage and authentic Spanish rice -- the kind used in paella that absorbs flavors.  Yum!

Spanish Rice with Chorizo
(adapted from The Food of Spain by Claudia Roden)

Serves 8

1 14 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
salt
5 T. olive oil
a head of garlic, not peeled
1 cup dried currants or raisins, soaked in water for 20 minutes and drained
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped (I did not bother peeling it)
1 t. sweet paprika or pimenton dulce
5 cups chicken stock
2.5 cups medium-grain Spanish paella rice or risotto, such as Arborio or Carnaroli
1 lb. chorizo sausage, browned and cut into links

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.  And brown the chorizo, so it is partially cooked.  Cut the meat into 2-3 inch links, if needed.

Heat oil in a large cazuela or casserole that goes in the oven.  Add the garlic and half the currants or raisins and stir over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato and paprika or pimenton dulce and stir well.

Then add the chickpeas

then add the stock, and some salt  Bring to a boil, add the rice and stir well.

Tuck the pre-browned chorizo sausage in around the edges, and move the garlic into the middle, then sprinkle the remaining currants or raisins over the top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.

When serving, squeeze out a clove of the soft garlic for each person to use as a condiment.

For leftovers, we simply reheated the dish, covered, in a 350 degree oven, until warm.

The chorizo sausage can be omitted and then the rice dish can be served with chicken or shrimp.

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