Arroz con Costra

Arroz con Costra is Alicante's, especially Elche and the Vega Baja, and it is not a paella with egg on top. It is a dry oven rice cooked in a cazuela with rabbit, pork, sausage, chickpeas, saffron, and broth, then covered with beaten egg so it sets into a golden costra, the crust that gives the dish its name.

The method that decides it is the rice before the eggs ever arrive. Build the sofrito, the slow tomato and garlic base, until the tomato is dark and thick, then turn the rice through it so every grain is coated before the hot broth goes in. After that, leave it alone. The egg goes on only when the rice has nearly drunk the broth; too early and it sinks, too late and the rice dries out.

If you are far from Alicante, use a short Spanish rice like bomba, senia, or Calasparra. If you cannot find rabbit, chicken thighs will cook honestly in its place, though the dish will taste milder. For the sausages, look for Spanish longaniza and morcilla de cebolla; Italian sausage and breakfast sausage make another thing entirely. No hace falta haber pisado España, but the rice and the embutido matter.

Beat the eggs well, pour them over the surface, and finish the cazuela in a hot oven until the crust is puffed and browned in patches. Rest it a few minutes so the rice settles under the egg. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.