Arroz de marisco - Portuguese seafood rice

Steve’s photography buddy Claudia is from Portugal and invited us to taste one of her family recipes. This rice dish is very different to Spanish paella and I highly recommend it. The flavours, texture and spice make this good home cooking while the seafood gives it a sense of occasion. The bonus is that it is really easy to cook!

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion – finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic – chopped
• Olive oil
• 400 grams mixed seafood
• 200 grams prawns
• 400 grams of canned chopped tomatoes
• 2 fish stock cubes
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Tabasco sauce or piri piri sauce
• 500 grams long grain rice
• 10 crabsticks – sliced
• 10 scallops
• Large handful of flat leaf parsley - chopped

Method

1. Place the onions and garlic in a stockpot. Add enough olive oil to cover the onions and then cook on a medium heat until the onions are transparent.
2. Add the mixed seafood and prawns and stir well. Let the dish cook for a few minutes to the let flavours of the seafood infuse with the onions and garlic.
3. Now remove the mixed seafood and prawns from the stockpot and place in a bowl. Put to one side.
4. Add the tomatoes to the stockpot and continue to cook on a lowish heat.
5. Dissolve the 2 stock cubes in 500 ml of boiling water and add to the stockpot.
6. Then add the bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper and a few drops of Tabasco or piri piri sauce. Stir well.
7. Add the rice and 1 litre of water. Stir again and then leave to cook for 15 minutes.
8. At this stage the dish should have a soupy consistency (or in the words of Edward (Claudia’s husband) “it should be liquid enough to spill on your shirt.”). If too much water has boiled off, add another 500 ml of boiling water and leave to cook for another 5 minutes.
9. Now return the mixed seafood and prawns to the stockpot. Keep the dish simmering on a lowish heat for another 5 minutes.
10. Taste the dish to check the seasoning and spices. Add salt, pepper and Tabasco or piri piri sauce as required.
11. Finally add the crabsticks and scallops to the stockpot. Stir well and leave to heat for a few minutes.
12. Garnish with the parsley and serve immediately with a green salad.