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Arroz con costra
Arròs amb crosta: Elche's oven-baked rice with chicken and sausages under a golden egg crust
Elche and Orihuela, in the south of Alicante, finish their Sunday rice in a way no other Spanish rice is finished: a thick layer of beaten egg is poured over the cooked rice, chicken, chickpeas and sausages, and the earthenware dish goes into a hot oven until the egg puffs into a golden lid. Families argue about whether the costra should be cracked at the table or cut into wedges. This contains pork (white sausages and morcilla). A common mistake is pouring the egg over rice that is still soupy; the egg sinks in and goes rubbery, so wait until the liquid has almost all gone. Chef's tip: bake it in a wide earthenware cazuela if you have one, which holds the heat and gives the crust its traditional dome.
- Total time
- 100 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 425°F (400°F fan). Heat ¼ cup olive oil in a 30 cm ovenproof casserole or cazuela over a medium-high heat. Season 1 ⅓ lb chicken thighs, bone in and brown it on all sides, about 10 minutes, until deep golden. Set aside.
10 minStep 2: Brown 10 ½ oz fresh white pork sausages (blanquet or butifarra) and 5 ½ oz morcilla (Spanish black pudding) in the same pan for 3 to 4 minutes, then lift out half the sausage and all the morcilla and keep them for the top.
4 minStep 3: Add 2 clove garlic and 1 ripe tomato and fry for 4 minutes until thick, then stir in 1 tsp sweet paprika. Return the chicken, add 9 oz cooked chickpeas and 14 oz short-grain paella rice (bomba or senia) and stir for 1 minute.
5 minStep 4: Pour in 4 ½ cups chicken stock, add 1 pinch saffron threads and 1 tsp salt, and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes without stirring, until most of the stock has been absorbed and the surface is just moist.
16 minStep 5: Arrange the reserved sausage and morcilla on top. Beat 7 eggs with a pinch of salt and pour evenly over the rice to cover it completely.
2 minStep 6: Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the egg crust has puffed, set firm and turned golden brown. Check a piece of chicken by the bone reads 165°F and the sausages 160°F.
17 minStep 7: Rest for 5 minutes, then bring the dish to the table and cut into wedges, making sure everyone gets crust, rice and meat.
5 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 720 kcal
- Protein
- 40 g
- Carbs
- 60 g
- Fat
- 34 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does arroz con costra take?
- About 100 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 70 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of ripe tomato?
- Tinned chopped tomatoes: a 400g tin for about 6 tomatoes (in cooked dishes, not salads).
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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