Chef Isabel
Arròs a la Cassola
Catalonia's casserole rice is cooked in a cassola, not a paella pan: rabbit, chicken, and pork rib over a dark sofregit, finished juicy with a small picada.
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Arroz Santanderino
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Arroz Santanderino is Cantabria in a wide pot: short-grain rice, clams, squid, and prawns cooked loose and brothy, with a dark sweet sofrito doing the quiet work.
Main Dishes
Spanish
Comfort Food
One Pot
Weeknight
25 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 10 min total
Yield4 servings
Arroz Santanderino is Cantabrian, from the coast around Santander, and it is an arroz caldoso, a brothy rice, not a paella. The rice should arrive loose and spoonable, tasting of shellfish, fish stock, pimentón, and the slow onion base underneath. Esto es de Cantabria, no de "España" a secas.
The method that decides it is the sofrito, the slow onion, pepper, tomato, and garlic base. Cook it low until the vegetables go dark gold, sweet, and almost jammy before the rice goes in. Rush that and the pot tastes watery no matter how good the seafood is. Give it time, then toast the rice briefly so each grain carries the oil and pimentón.
If you are far from Santander, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use good littleneck clams for almejas, cleaned squid, and raw prawns or shrimp with shells on if you can get them. The shells give the stock more backbone. If your fishmonger has hake bones or monkfish bones, take them; if not, a clean unsalted seafood stock will do, but taste before salting.
Add the clams and prawns at the end, not at the beginning. Shellfish tells you when it is done by opening. My Margin beside this one says only, "caldoso, no seco," brothy, not dry. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Arroz Santanderino belongs to Cantabria's coast, where Santander's port and fishing towns fed inland kitchens with clams, squid, hake, and prawns from the Bay of Biscay. It sits with the northern arroces caldosos, brothy rice dishes meant for a spoon rather than the dry, separate grain of a Valencian paella. The dish shows Cantabria's old habit of joining sea and mountain larders: a deep vegetable sofrito, pimentón from the preserved pantry, and fresh shellfish added only long enough to open.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
short-grain Spanish rice, such as bomba, Calasparra, or bahía
Quantity
300g
hot fish or seafood stock
Quantity
1.2 litres, plus 100ml more if needed
clams
Quantity
500g
scrubbed and purged
squid
Quantity
300g
cleaned and cut into rings or bite-size pieces
raw prawns or shrimp
Quantity
250g
shell-on if possible
onion
Quantity
1 medium
finely chopped
green pepper
Quantity
1
finely chopped
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
2
grated, skins discarded
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
finely chopped
dry white wine
Quantity
80ml
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
60ml
sweet pimentón de la Vera
Quantity
1 teaspoon
saffron threads
Quantity
1 pinch
bay leaf
Quantity
1
chopped parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| short-grain Spanish rice, such as bomba, Calasparra, or bahía | 300g |
| hot fish or seafood stock | 1.2 litres, plus 100ml more if needed |
| clamsscrubbed and purged | 500g |
| squidcleaned and cut into rings or bite-size pieces | 300g |
| raw prawns or shrimpshell-on if possible | 250g |
| onionfinely chopped | 1 medium |
| green pepperfinely chopped | 1 |
| ripe tomatoesgrated, skins discarded | 2 |
| garlic clovesfinely chopped | 3 |
| dry white wine | 80ml |
| extra virgin olive oil | 60ml |
| sweet pimentón de la Vera | 1 teaspoon |
| saffron threads | 1 pinch |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| chopped parsley | 2 tablespoons |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide heavy cazuela, paellera, or deep saute pan, 30 to 34cm
- •Small pot for keeping stock hot
- •Fine grater for the tomatoes
Instructions
- 1
Purge the clams
Put the clams in a bowl of cold salted water for 30 minutes, then lift them out and rinse well. Do not pour them out with the water, or the grit follows them back. Discard any cracked clams, and any open ones that do not close when tapped.
If a clam stays shut after cooking, throw it away. One stubborn clam is not worth spoiling the pot. - 2
Cook the sofrito
Warm the olive oil in a wide heavy cazuela or deep saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion, green pepper, and a pinch of salt, and cook 15 minutes, stirring often, until soft and dark gold. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute, then add the grated tomato and bay leaf. Cook 10 to 12 minutes more, until the tomato has lost its water and the sofrito is thick, sweet, and jammy.
- 3
Add squid and pimentón
Stir in the squid and cook 3 minutes, just until it tightens and gives off a little liquid. Pull the pan briefly off the heat, stir in the pimentón and saffron, then return it to the heat. Pimentón burns fast and turns bitter, so give it oil and warmth, not a hard scorch.
- 4
Toast the rice
Add the rice and stir for 1 minute, coating every grain in the sofrito and red oil. Pour in the white wine and let it bubble until almost gone. This short toast helps the rice stay loose in the broth instead of turning pasty.
- 5
Simmer the rice
Add 1.2 litres hot stock, stir once, and bring to a lively simmer. Cook uncovered for 13 to 15 minutes, adjusting the heat so the whole surface bubbles steadily. Stir only now and then to keep the rice from catching. This is arroz caldoso, so it should look generous with broth; add a splash more hot stock if the pan tightens too quickly.
- 6
Open the shellfish
When the rice is nearly tender but still has a small firm point, nestle in the clams and prawns. Cover the pan and cook 4 to 6 minutes, until the clams open and the prawns turn pink. Taste the broth, season with salt and pepper, and pull the pan off the heat while the rice is still soupy.
- 7
Rest and serve
Rest the rice 3 minutes, no longer, because it keeps drinking. Scatter with parsley and serve at once in warm shallow bowls, with broth around the grains and shellfish on top. Not every arroz is a paella. This one wants a spoon.
Chef Tips
- •Use short-grain rice. Bomba is steady and forgiving, Calasparra is good, and bahía or senia give a softer, more traditional brothy finish if you can find them. Arborio works at a pinch, but it releases more starch, so stir less and expect a creamier broth.
- •The stock matters. A quick stock from prawn shells, a fish head, hake bones, onion, parsley stems, and water will beat most cartons. Simmer it 25 minutes, then strain. Longer is not better with fish bones.
- •Keep the clams for the end. If they cook from the beginning they go tough and give all their sweetness away before the rice is ready.
- •This is best eaten as soon as it rests. Leftovers are safe if chilled quickly, but the rice will drink the broth and soften. Reheat gently with a little stock and call it supper, not the same dish.
Advance Preparation
- •Purge the clams up to 2 hours ahead and keep them cold, covered with a damp cloth, not sealed tight.
- •Make the fish stock a day ahead and refrigerate it. Bring it back to a simmer before adding it to the rice.
- •Chop the onion, pepper, garlic, and parsley earlier in the day, but grate the tomatoes close to cooking so they stay fresh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 560g)
Calories
585 calories
Total Fat
17 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
205 mg
Sodium
1380 mg
Total Carbohydrates
73 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
32 g
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