You have heard of Seafood Spaghetti, Seafood Risotto, even Seafood Paella, but have you heard of Portuguese Seafood Rice, Arroz de Marisco?
Change up the usual Christmas spread this year by serving a non-traditional Christmas dish that can feed a hungry crowd! Similar to a risotto but saucier, home cook Lilian Liong’s recipe for Portuguese Seafood Rice is extremely flavourful. The rich, tangy tomato sauce made with Del Monte tomato paste brings out the natural sweetness of the seafood for a complex flavour profile in such a simple dish.
But if you are worried about cooking seafood, don’t worry! This delicious one-pan dish is surprisingly easy to cook! Hence, not only is it a great alternative Christmas dinner idea, it will also be one of the best Christmas party foods that you can have at your gatherings!
Portuguese Seafood Rice
Here are the ingredients that you will need: onions, tomatoes, garlic, chicken stock, prawns, cuttlefish, mussels, clams, olive oil, paprika powder, bay leaves, carnaroli rice, coriander, and Del Monte tomato paste.
Del Monte Tomato Paste
To get started, pre-cook the prawns first.
In a saucepan, heat up the olive oil and garlic. Fry until it is fragrant.
Fry the garlic until fragrant
Add the prawns and sear them until they are cooked halfway through only then remove them from the heat and set aside. #Tip: pre-cooking the prawns on high heat brings out more flavour and gives them a more vibrant colour!
Sear both sides of the prawns for a nice colour
Next, prepare the gravy for the dish.
Add the prawn heads, shells, and chopped onions to the pan and stir fry. Use the back of the spatula to mash and squeeze out the tomalley from the prawn heads.
Add the prawn heads, shells, and onion to the pan and stir fry
Use the back of the spatula to press and squeeze out the tomalley from the prawn heads
Then add the tomatoes, Del Monte tomato paste, bay leaves, and paprika. Stir fry and mix well for two minutes then add the chicken stock and bring it up to a boil.
Add bay leaves, tomato paste, tomatoes, and paprika
Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil
Add the coriander sprigs and cover the dish to simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
Add coriander sprigs and cover the dish to simmer for 30 minutes
Once the 30 minutes are up, it is time to cook the rice and seafood.
Uncover the dish and remove the coriander, prawn heads and shells from the gravy. Discard these ingredients.
Remove and discard the prawn heads, shells, bay leaves, and coriander
Then add the rice, cover with the lid and let the rice cook by simmering for another 25 minutes.
Add the carnaroli rice
Cover with lid and simmer for 25 minutes
When the rice is cooked, add the seafood, cover with the lid again and cook for five minutes or until the clams and mussels are open and cooked through. #Tip: taste the rice before adding the seafood to check if they are cooked through. If the rice is still hard, cover and cook for another 10 minutes.
Add in all the seafood, cover with the lid and cook for 10 minutes
Lastly, place the dish on a serving plate and garnish the dish with fresh coriander. If you would like to go fancier, drizzle with some truffle oil to finish!
Your Portuguese Seafood Rice is ready!
Get the recipe below!
- 2 onions chopped
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 8 cloves garlic sliced
- 170 g Del Monte Tomato Paste
- 1 litre chicken stock
- 6 large prawns remove and set aside shells and heads
- 1 whole cuttlefish deskinned and sliced
- 200 g mussels
- 250 g clams
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp paprika powder
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 cup carnaroli rice washed
- 4 sprigs coriander for gravy
- chopped coriander leaves for garnish
- Heat up a saucepan, add olive oil and garlic. Fry till fragrant.
- Add prawns and cook until they are cooked halfway through. Remove prawns and set aside.
- Add the prawn heads, shells and onion to the pan. Using the back of the spatula, squeeze out the tomalley from the prawn heads.
- Add tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves and paprika. Stir fry to mix well for 2 minutes.
- Add chicken stock and bring the sauce to a boil.
- Add coriander sprigs, put the lid on and simmer the gravy on low heat for 30 minutes.
- Remove and discard coriander, prawn heads and shells from the gravy.
- Add rice grains, put the lid on and simmer for a further 25 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper and do a taste test here to adjust the seasoning to your taste.
- After the rice is cooked, add the seafood, put the lid on and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the seafood are cooked through.
- Place the rice and seafood on a serving plate and garnish with fresh coriander. #Tip: to elevate the dish further, drizzle with truffle oil to finish.
Facebook Comments