Arroz de Tomate (Portuguese Soupy Tomato Rice)

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic, minced
• 5 tomato, ripe, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 bay leaf
• 250 g white rice
• 7 dl vegetable stock, hot
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper

Method

1. 1.

   Sweat the onion and garlic — Warm the olive oil in a wide pot over medium-low heat and cook the onion for 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until it is completely soft and translucent without taking any colour. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more.

2. 2.

   Melt the tomatoes down — Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, salt and black pepper. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, breaking the tomatoes down with the spoon, until they collapse into a loose jam and the olive oil pools bright red at the edges of the pot.

3. 3.

   Coat the rice in the red oil — Tip in the rice and stir it through the tomato for a minute, so every grain is coated in the red oil before any liquid goes in.

4. 4.

   Simmer loose and soupy — Pour in the hot stock, bring to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes. It is ready when the rice is tender but the pot still holds a loose, soupy sauce — this rice is meant to run on the plate, not stand up in it.

5. 5.

   Finish with parsley — Take out the bay leaves, taste for salt and stir in the parsley. Let it stand for 2 minutes off the heat, then spoon it out at once, alongside grilled fish, meat or vegetables — it thickens fast as it sits.