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Portuguese seafood rice

Name: Portuguese seafood rice
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Ingredients: onion 1, finely chopped; celery 2 sticks, finely chopped; olive oil 2 tbsp; garlic 6 large cloves, bashed but left whole; bay leaves 2; paprika (not smoked) 1 tbsp; dried chilli flakes ½ tsp; tomatoes 4, cored and roughly chopped; chopped tomatoes 400g tin; caster or granulated sugar 1 tsp; risotto rice 100g; mussels 750g, cleaned; large raw peeled king prawns 200g, defrosted if frozen; oregano half a small bunch, chopped; flat-leaf parsley half a small bunch, roughly chopped, including stalks; butter 25g, diced

1 hour 30 minutes
serves 4
Easy

A celebration of all things seafood, this colourful rice dish calls for plenty of paprika, garlic, mussels, king prawns and oregano

By Sabrina Ghayour

Published: June 19, 2020 at 10:27 pm

This seafood rice recipe comes from Sabrina Ghayour, inspired by her travels to Portugal. Sabrina says: “Porto is a stunning city of sloping cobbled streets, vibrant café culture, restaurants and nightlife, and the most fantastic food and colourful history. Once you get past the initial consumption of endless pastéis de nata, seafood should be next on your agenda. The arroz con mariscos I had here were much soupier and more comforting than any I’d ever had before and I could have happily eaten a bowl three times a day, no problem.”

Ingredients

onion 1, finely chopped
celery 2 sticks, finely chopped
olive oil 2 tbsp
garlic 6 large cloves, bashed but left whole
bay leaves 2
paprika (not smoked) 1 tbsp
dried chilli flakes ½ tsp
tomatoes 4, cored and roughly chopped
chopped tomatoes 400g tin
caster or granulated sugar 1 tsp
risotto rice 100g
mussels 750g, cleaned
large raw peeled king prawns 200g, defrosted if frozen
oregano half a small bunch, chopped
flat-leaf parsley half a small bunch, roughly chopped, including stalks
butter 25g, diced

Method

Step 1

Cook the onion and celery in the oil in a casserole over a medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and bay leaves, and cook until the garlic is translucent. Stir in the paprika, chilli flakes, fresh tomatoes and a generous amount of seasoning. Add the tinned tomatoes and sugar with 1.5 litres of cold water, then stir and cover with a lid. After the liquid begins to simmer, reduce to a medium heat and allow to gently simmer for 45 minutes.
Step 2

Next add the rice, stir once and leave to cook for 15 minutes with the lid on. Adjust the seasoning, then add the mussels, stir well and cover with a lid again. Cook for 10 minutes or until all of the mussels have opened (discard any that haven’t). Adjust the liquid volume by adding a little more justboiled water if it seems a little dry, then add the prawns. Cook for 2 minutes with a lid on and then stir in the chopped oregano, parsley and butter, and serve in shallow bowls.