Chef Isabel
Arròs al Forn de Vigilia
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.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Arròs amb Fesols i Naps
Created by
Arròs amb fesols i naps is Valencian spoon rice from La Safor and La Marina: white beans, winter turnips, and pork cooked into a broth rich enough to take the rice without turning dry.
Main Dishes
Spanish
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
One Pot
25 min
Active Time
2 hr 45 min cook•3 hr 10 min total
Yield6 servings
Arròs amb fesols i naps is Valencian, a winter arròs caldós from the huerta and the comarques of La Safor and La Marina: round rice, white beans, turnips, and pork cooked loose enough to eat with a spoon. It is not paella, and it doesn't want the dry, separate finish of paella. This is cocina de cuchara, spoon food, with the rice going in only at the end.
The method that decides it is the broth before the rice. Beans and pork must simmer until the beans are creamy and the liquid tastes finished; only then do you add the rice. If the broth is thin, the rice has nothing to drink. If the rice goes in too early, it swells while the beans are still hard. No drama, just order.
If you're far from Valencia, use a small dried white bean such as cannellini or Great Northern, soaked overnight, and small firm turnips, or rutabaga if napicol is what you can mimic. Valencia rice, Senia, J. Sendra, or Bahia is right; bomba works with more water, and arborio at a pinch will be creamier and less clear. No hace falta haber pisado España. Measure the broth before the rice goes in, pésalo, no lo adivines. Siempre sale, si lo sigues. My Margin says only this: leave it soupy, the rice is greedy.
Arròs amb fesols i naps belongs to the Valencian winter larder, especially La Safor, La Marina, La Ribera, and the huerta around Valencia, where rice fields, market-garden turnips, and the household pig met in the same pot. In many villages the dish is cooked as a caldera, a great cauldron rice for feast days and winter gatherings, because beans and rice could feed a crowd while a little pork from the matança flavored the whole pot. It is an arròs caldós, a brothy rice, not a paella; the proof is the spoon and the broth left shining in the bowl.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried white beans (fesols blancs)
Quantity
300g
soaked overnight
Valencian short-grain rice, such as Senia, J. Sendra, or Bahia
Quantity
350g
pig's trotter or fresh pork hock
Quantity
1, about 450g
split lengthwise
pork ribs
Quantity
350g
cut into individual ribs
panceta or tocino fresco
Quantity
150g
cut into 3cm pieces
morcilla de cebolla
Quantity
2, about 180g
left whole
white turnips or napicol
Quantity
500g
peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
ripe tomato
Quantity
1, about 150g
grated, skin discarded
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
finely chopped or pounded
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
45ml
sweet pimentón
Quantity
1 teaspoon
saffron threads
Quantity
0.2g
lightly crushed
cold water
Quantity
2.5 litres, plus hot water as needed
fine sea salt
Quantity
18g, plus more to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried white beans (fesols blancs)soaked overnight | 300g |
| Valencian short-grain rice, such as Senia, J. Sendra, or Bahia | 350g |
| pig's trotter or fresh pork hocksplit lengthwise | 1, about 450g |
| pork ribscut into individual ribs | 350g |
| panceta or tocino frescocut into 3cm pieces | 150g |
| morcilla de cebollaleft whole | 2, about 180g |
| white turnips or napicolpeeled and cut into 3cm chunks | 500g |
| ripe tomatograted, skin discarded | 1, about 150g |
| garlic clovesfinely chopped or pounded | 3 |
| extra virgin olive oil | 45ml |
| sweet pimentón | 1 teaspoon |
| saffron threadslightly crushed | 0.2g |
| cold water | 2.5 litres, plus hot water as needed |
| fine sea salt | 18g, plus more to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •6 to 7 litre heavy olla or deep cazuela
- •Kitchen scale
- •Skimming spoon
- •Ladle and measuring jug
Instructions
- 1
Soak the beans
The night before, cover the dried beans with plenty of cold water and leave them to soak for 10 to 12 hours. Drain them before cooking. Don't skip this; unsoaked beans cook unevenly, and by the time the middle softens the outside has already tired itself out.
Old beans take longer no matter what you do. Buy from a shop with good turnover, because this dish depends on beans that turn creamy before the rice goes in. - 2
Brown the base
Warm the olive oil in a 6 to 7 litre heavy pot over medium heat. Brown the pork ribs, trotter, and panceta for 8 to 10 minutes, turning them so they color in patches. Add the turnip pieces and let their cut faces pick up a little gold, then lift the turnips to a bowl. They come back later, when they can soften without collapsing.
- 3
Build the sofregit
Lower the heat and add the garlic to the pork. Stir for 30 seconds, then add the grated tomato and cook it down for 8 to 10 minutes, until it darkens and the oil shows at the edge. Pull the pot off the heat, stir in the sweet pimentón, and let it bloom for a few seconds. Pimentón burns bitter, so don't make it prove anything.
- 4
Simmer beans and pork
Add the drained beans and 2.5 litres cold water. Bring the pot up slowly, skim off the grey foam, then lower the heat to a steady gentle simmer. Cook for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, until the beans are mostly tender and the pork is giving flavor to the broth. Keep a kettle of hot water nearby and top up only if the beans threaten to sit above the liquid.
- 5
Add turnips
Return the browned turnips to the pot with the saffron and 18g salt. Simmer 35 to 45 minutes more, until the turnips are tender, the beans are creamy, and the broth tastes like something you would happily eat before the rice ever arrives. That is the point. The rice is not there to rescue a weak pot.
- 6
Measure the broth
Before adding the rice, check the liquid. For 350g rice you want about 1.9 litres of broth in the pot, counting the beans, pork, and turnips sitting in it. If it is low, add hot water; if it is swimming, boil uncovered for a few minutes. Taste for salt now. The broth should be fully seasoned, because rice eats salt as it cooks.
If using bomba rice, add another 150 to 200ml hot water. Bomba drinks more than the old Valencian round rices and will leave the pot too tight if you treat it the same. - 7
Cook the rice
Bring the pot to a lively simmer and scatter in the rice. Stir once so it doesn't clump, then cook 8 minutes. Nestle the whole morcillas on top and cook 8 to 10 minutes more, moving the spoon gently around the bottom only if the rice wants to catch. The grains should be tender with a little bite, and the pot should still be brothy.
- 8
Rest and serve
Take the pot off the heat and rest it 5 minutes, no longer. Slice the morcillas into thick coins and give each bowl rice, beans, turnip, pork, and a piece of morcilla. Serve at once with spoons. Arròs caldós waits for nobody; ten extra minutes and the rice drinks the broth you worked for.
Chef Tips
- •Use Valencian round rice if you can: Senia, J. Sendra, or Bahia. Bomba works, but it needs 150 to 200ml more broth. Arborio at a pinch gives a creamier, cloudier pot, so know what changes. Don't use long-grain rice; it stays separate in the wrong way.
- •For the beans, cannellini or Great Northern are honest substitutes for fesols blancs. Soak them overnight. Canned beans can be used only if you must: cook the pork broth first, then add about 700g drained canned beans for the last 20 minutes. It will be thinner. No pretending otherwise.
- •Napicol is right when you find it, but small firm white turnips work well. Rutabaga is denser and sweeter, so cut it a little smaller and give it the full cooking time.
- •The trotter or hock is not there for show. It gives body to the broth, the quiet gelatin that makes the rice taste rounded. If you cannot get morcilla de cebolla, leave it out rather than replacing it with smoked chorizo. That takes the pot somewhere else.
- •This is best the minute the rice is ready. If you have leftovers, add water when reheating and accept it as a thick potaje, a bean and rice stew. It won't return to the loose arròs caldós it was at the table.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the beans 10 to 12 hours ahead in plenty of cold water.
- •You can cook the beans, pork, and turnips a day ahead, stopping before the rice. Chill the pot, then reheat gently, measure the broth, and add the rice just before serving.
- •Do not cook the rice ahead. It keeps swelling and drinks the broth, which is exactly what this dish should not lose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 590g)
Calories
835 calories
Total Fat
38 g
Saturated Fat
12 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
21 g
Cholesterol
135 mg
Sodium
1840 mg
Total Carbohydrates
86 g
Dietary Fiber
11 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
39 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Valencian Paellas & Dry Rices
Browse the full collection
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.
Chef Isabel
Arroz a Banda
Arroz a banda is Alicante's fishermen's rice: dry rice cooked in fierce fish stock with salmorreta, the fish served apart, and allioli beside it. Not paella. Its own thing.
Chef Isabel
Arroz al Horno Valenciano
Arroz al horno is Valencian oven rice, born from cocido broth and leftovers, baked dry in a clay cazuela until the grains stand separate and the top catches.