Spanish Baked Rice with Chorizo & Chickpeas

Lately I've been enjoying mixing meat with pulses for a richer, cheaper and healthier meal. Being a rediculously busy working mum I've also been looking for meals that are relatively easy whilst still being yummy... This dish has all of these features!

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

250g streaky bacon, diced (alternatively use cooking chorizo, or a combination of both)

1 onion, finely diced

2 leeks, white and pale green parts only, sliced, rinsed and well drained

5 garlic cloves, skin on and left whole

3 whole plum tomatoes from a tin, drained of juice 

1/2–1 tsp sweet paprika, to taste

300g Spanish paella rice (risotto rice will do) 

600ml hot chicken stock or boiling water

Small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped

400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC (170oC fan). 

 Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed casserole dish over a moderate heat and fry the bacon and/or chorizo for 3–5 minutes until golden, blistered and exuding fat. Add the onions, leeks and garlic cloves and cook for about 8 minutes until soft. Add the tomatoes, paprika and rice and mix everything together until the rice is well coated and warmed through.

Add the hot stock or boiling water and the parsley and give the rice a good stir. Check the seasoning, adding a bit of salt or paprika if necessary. Add the chickpeas to the surface of the rice and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid.

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and the grains are just cooked through. Leave to rest for 5 minutes off the heat, with the lid on.

Serve with lemon wedges and be sure to squeeze the pulpy flesh from the garlic cloves as you come across them. 

Source: I found this recipe on the UK National Trust website.www.nationaltrust.org.uk. It's from the recipe book called The National Trust Family Cookbook by Claire Thomson, which looks appealing....