Chorizo with Baked Rice and Eggs.

Here’s another magnificent one-pot Spanish dish. I was inspired by my Lebanese Chicken Fattee to create something which could feed us from the one pot. It saves a lot of hassle and washing up after all. This was an ideal little dish and really tasty to boot. I couldn’t stop eating!

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:
For the tomato sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion (finely chopped)
3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 chorizo (sliced)
1 stick celery (finely chopped)
1x400g chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
2 tablespoons continental parsley (chopped)
1 teaspoon mild paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup fino sherry

For the rice:
1/2 onion (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
10 strands of saffron (crumbled)
1 cup of arborio rice
1 cup chicken stock

DIRECTIONS:
For the tomato sauce:
Heat a saucepan with the oil over a moderate heat. Gently fry the onions, garlic and celery for 4-5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the chorizo and fry for 1 minute. Add the cumin, paprika, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper and stir briefly. Pour in the sherry and liet it sizzle for 30 seconds. Pour in the stock and the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes uncovered. Add a little water if it becomes too thick or reduce for longer if too watery. It should be a thick glossy sauce but not too solid.

For the rice:
Preheat oven to 200ºC
Fry the onions in a large lidded (ovenproof) pan in the oil until golden brown then add the rice and stir briefly. Add and stir in the chicken stock, 1 cup of warm water, thyme, saffron and parsley. Bring to the boil, remove from heat and cook in oven for 15 minutes.
Take out and leave the lid on for a further 10 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the rice, being careful to cover it all. Make 4 small wells in the pan and break an egg in each. Return to the oven and bake uncovered for 5-7 minutes until the egg is cooked but the yolk still runny.

SERVING:
Scatter over more chopped parsley if you like and serve direct from the pan with lots of crusty bread.