Chef Isabel
Arròs amb Ànec i Anguila
Arròs amb ànec i anguila belongs to the Albufera of Valencia: duck from the marsh, eel from the water, and rice cooked dry until the bottom catches dark and good.
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Arròs al Forn de Vigilia
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Arròs al forn de vigilia is Valencia's meatless baked rice for Cuaresma: chickpeas, potato, tomato, and a whole garlic head set in a clay cazuela and baked dry, with no stirring.
Main Dishes
Spanish
Easter
Budget Friendly
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
2 hr cook•2 hr 20 min total
Yield4 generous servings
Arròs al forn de vigilia is Valencian, a clay-baked rice for Cuaresma, when the usual ribs, panceta, and morcilla stay out of the cazuela. Chickpeas, potato, tomato, pimentón, a little saffron if you have it, and a whole garlic head do the work instead. It is not paella, and it is not the pork-rich arròs al forn of a feast day. It is the widowed one, viudo, and if you measure the broth it has its own strength.
The method that decides it is the broth and the oven. The rice goes into a hot cazuela with hot chickpea broth, measured exactly, then you leave it alone. Stir after that and the starch works loose. Guess the liquid and you get a wet bottom or a chalky centre. Pésalo, no lo adivines: weigh it, don't guess.
If you can't find Valencian rice where you are, use arroz redondo sold for paella, Calasparra, or bomba. If cooked chickpeas are what you have, use them without shame, but heat a light vegetable stock with bay and garlic so the rice doesn't taste thin. No hace falta haber pisado España. You do need short-grain rice, hot broth, and the nerve to stop touching it.
My Margin beside this one says only: hot dish, hot broth, hands off. The top should dry and crust in patches, the potato edges should go dark gold, and the garlic should soften enough to press into the rice. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Arròs al forn belongs to Valencia, especially the inland comarques around Xàtiva and La Costera, where rice from l'Albufera met the clay cassola and the household oven. The usual arròs al forn often used broth and leftovers from putxero, with pork, chickpeas, potato, tomato, and a whole garlic head arranged on top. On days of vigilia in Cuaresma, when meat was kept from the table, the rice became viudo, widowed of meat, and the chickpeas and their cooking broth carried the dish.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried chickpeas, or cooked chickpeas
Quantity
120g dried or 240g cooked
dried chickpeas soaked overnight; cooked chickpeas drained
bay leaf
Quantity
1
water for cooking chickpeas, or light vegetable stock
Quantity
1.1 litres water or 800ml stock
Valencian short-grain rice
Quantity
320g
arroz redondo, bomba, Senia, or Bahia
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
70ml
waxy potatoes
Quantity
450g
peeled and cut into 8mm rounds
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
2, about 330g total
1 grated, 1 sliced into 5mm rounds
whole head garlic
Quantity
1
loose outer skin removed
sweet pimentón
Quantity
1 teaspoon
saffron threads (optional)
Quantity
0.1g
crumbled
fine sea salt
Quantity
10g
divided, plus more if needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried chickpeas, or cooked chickpeasdried chickpeas soaked overnight; cooked chickpeas drained | 120g dried or 240g cooked |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| water for cooking chickpeas, or light vegetable stock | 1.1 litres water or 800ml stock |
| Valencian short-grain ricearroz redondo, bomba, Senia, or Bahia | 320g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 70ml |
| waxy potatoespeeled and cut into 8mm rounds | 450g |
| ripe tomatoes1 grated, 1 sliced into 5mm rounds | 2, about 330g total |
| whole head garlicloose outer skin removed | 1 |
| sweet pimentón | 1 teaspoon |
| saffron threads (optional)crumbled | 0.1g |
| fine sea saltdivided, plus more if needed | 10g |
Equipment Needed
- •30 to 32cm oven-safe cazuela de barro or shallow ceramic baking dish
- •Wide heavy frying pan
- •Medium pot for chickpeas and broth
- •Kitchen scale
- •Box grater for tomato
Instructions
- 1
Cook the chickpeas
Drain the soaked chickpeas and put them in a pot with 1.1 litres water and the bay leaf. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until tender but still whole, 60 to 90 minutes depending on their age. Add 4g salt for the last 15 minutes. Drain and save exactly 800ml of the cooking broth; if you are short, top it up with water.
If using cooked chickpeas, rinse and drain 240g of them. Heat 800ml light vegetable stock with the bay leaf and one crushed garlic clove for 10 minutes, then keep it hot for the rice. - 2
Heat the cazuela
Set a 30 to 32cm oven-safe cazuela de barro or ceramic baking dish on a tray and put it in the oven while the oven heats to 220C/425F. Warming the dish with the oven protects the clay and gives the rice the quick, even heat it needs. If your clay dish is not stovetop-safe, do all the frying in a pan and transfer the rice later.
- 3
Brown potatoes
Heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat. Fry the potato rounds in batches until lightly golden at the edges, about 3 minutes per side; they should not be fully cooked yet. Sprinkle with 2g salt and set aside. Brown the whole garlic head in the same oil for 2 minutes, turning it so the outside takes a little colour, then set it aside too.
- 4
Make the sofregit
Add the grated tomato to the oil left in the pan with 2g salt. Cook it down for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until it darkens, thickens, and the oil begins to show at the edges. This is the sofregit, the slow tomato base; leave it watery and the baked rice will never finish dry. Pull the pan off the heat, stir in the pimentón and saffron for a few seconds, then add the rice and cooked chickpeas. Return to low heat and stir for 1 minute, just until the grains are glossy.
Pimentón turns bitter if it scorches. Add it off the heat, let the oil wake it up, then move on. - 5
Assemble the rice
Bring the reserved chickpea broth or vegetable stock to a full boil. Taste it; it should be a little more seasoned than soup because the rice will take up the salt. Add the remaining 2g salt only if the broth needs it. Carefully take the hot cazuela from the oven, scrape in the rice and chickpea mixture, and spread it flat. Pour in exactly 800ml hot broth. Set the garlic head in the centre, arrange the potato rounds and sliced tomato on top, and do not stir from this point.
This is baked rice, not paella, but the same warning holds: once the liquid goes in, leave the rice alone. - 6
Bake dry
Bake at 220C/425F for 20 to 24 minutes, until the liquid has disappeared, the top grains look dry and separate, and the potato edges are deep gold. If the rice is dry but still hard in the centre, spoon 50ml hot broth around the edge and bake 4 minutes more. If it is still wet after 24 minutes, give it another 3 to 5 minutes. The finish should be dry, never soupy.
- 7
Rest and serve
Take the cazuela from the oven and rest it uncovered for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not cover it, or the top crust softens. Serve straight from the cazuela, giving each person rice, chickpeas, potato, tomato, and a little of the softened garlic squeezed from its skin.
Chef Tips
- •Use Valencian arroz redondo if you can find it. Bomba and Calasparra also work, though bomba may want the full 800ml broth and a minute or two more in the oven. Long-grain rice is wrong here, and risotto rice at a pinch comes out creamier than it should.
- •Canned chickpeas are fine. Rinse them, drain them, and use a light vegetable stock heated with bay and garlic. What changes is depth: dried chickpeas give you a broth that tastes of the dish before the rice ever goes in.
- •Cuaresma comes before good tomato season in many places. For the grated tomato, use 180g good canned whole tomato crushed by hand and cook it down hard. For the top, use a decent fresh tomato if you have one; if it is pale and sour, leave the slices off.
- •If you add chorizo, morcilla, or ribs, you have made the feast-day cousin of this dish. A good thing, but not arròs al forn de vigilia.
- •The clay dish matters because it holds heat steadily and gives the rice its dry baked finish. If you do not own barro, use a shallow ceramic or metal baking dish of the same width, and expect a little less crust at the edges.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of cold water; they cook more evenly and give you the broth the rice wants.
- •The chickpeas can be cooked up to 2 days ahead. Keep them covered in their cooking broth in the refrigerator, then measure and heat the broth before baking.
- •Fry the potatoes up to 2 hours ahead and leave them at room temperature. Assemble only when the broth is boiling and the oven is hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 470g)
Calories
630 calories
Total Fat
21 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
17 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1050 mg
Total Carbohydrates
93 g
Dietary Fiber
9 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
14 g
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