Arroz cremoso de verduras

In Spain, they love rice and grow a very excellent variety: Arroz Bomba. This is a round grain rice of the Japonica variety with short, pearl-shaped grains. Bomba rice can soak up a lot of liquid, and if you cook it in a broth, it takes on much of its flavour. The rule of thumb for creamy rice is: four parts broth to one part bomba rice. To cook perfectly, this rice needs quite a long time, around 18 minutes.

The most famous Spanish rice dish is, of course, paella, but we will cook that another time. Today we are interested in a slightly different way of preparing the rice: we want to cook a creamy rice, arroz cremoso, the Spanish answer to Italian risotto. Since you don’t use butter or Parmigiano, this rice dish is much lighter, with less fat and fewer calories.

This dish can be prepared wonderfully with vegetables only, no one will miss anything. The diverse flavours of the different vegetables combine wonderfully with this marvellous rice, but remain to be tasted on their own. You just have to be patient.

We choose our widest pan and on medium heat (5 out of 10) first sweat diced onions and sliced mushrooms in about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Do not chop the vegetables too finely.

When the onions are slightly golden and the mushrooms have lost some of their liquid, we add finely sliced garlic.

We sweat of the garlic for 2 minutes, the follows diced fennel, but ultimately any vegetable in this dish is exchangeable. However, keep in mind the time it takes for each vegetable to cook, as described here.

We continue with carrots and bush beans.

Once these vegetables are also slightly sautéed, we add one of our favourite vegetables – artichokes.

Our last vegetable for today is red bell peppers, they cook very quickly.

Now create some space in the middle of the pan and season with 2 teaspoons of Spanish paprika powder (Pimentón de la Vera).

Add tomatoe puree straight away. Don’t let the paprika powder heat up dry for too long, otherwise it will become bitter.

Mix everything thoroughly and season with a little salt and pepper. You can do this gently at first and season it further at any time later. Then add the rice.

Stir in the rice and cook for 2 – 3 minutes without adding any more liquid.

Now, also as with risotto, you can add a small amount of white wine and stir until it is completely absorbed – the alcohol will have evaporated. This adds a lot to the taste, but it is optional. We did without it today.

In any case, it is time for the liquid, in our case vegetable stock, which we add hot so as not to interrupt the cooking process.

Unlike with risotto, you don’t need to add the stock a little at a time or stir constantly. However, you should give it a stir about every 5 minutes to prevent the rice from settling at the bottom of the pan and catching on. This also allows the Bomba rice to release a lot of starch, which thickens the stock and gives the dish a particularly creamy texture in the end.

After a few minutes, you’ll see the rice increase in volume.

The ratio of liquid to rice according to the rule of thumb given is always a good starting point. If, after 10 minutes, you notice there isn’t much liquid left in the pan, add a tiny bit of hot water or stock. After 18 minutes, taste the rice – if it’s still too firm for your liking, give it a bit more time and, if necessary, add a little more liquid – it can’t go wrong from there.

We love this dish. It’s very nutritious yet light and elegant. It contains very few spices, yet the flavour is complex. The rice, with its wonderful texture, is a brilliant vehicle for the flavours of the vegetables – the real stars of the show.

Enjoy.

And may the taste be with you.

Ingredients ( for 2 people):

1 onion

2 – 3 cloves garlic

Vegetables as desired and according to season, 400–500 g

(here: mushrooms, fennel, carrots, bush beans, artichokes, bell peppers)

Salt and pepper

2 tsp pimentón dulce ahumado

3 – 4 tbsp strained or grated tomatoes

150 g arroz bomba

600 ml vegetable stock (hot)