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Spanish baked rice with leek, bacon and chickpeas

Packed with flavour, this one-pot tasty recipe is the perfect dinner for the whole family to enjoy.

  • 10–20 minutes prep. time
  • 20–25 minutes cooking time
  • Serves 4
  • Pies & savoury treats
A green casserole dish full of Spanish baked rice with leek, bacon and chickpeas, with a spoon in it, on a wooden table
Tuck in to an easy, one-pot meal | © Jill Mead

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 250g streaky bacon, diced (or 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
  • ½–1 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
  • salt (optional)
  • 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • lemon wedges, to serve

Method

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 180°C (170°C fan/gas mark 4).

Step 2

Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based casserole over a moderate heat and fry the bacon and/or chorizo for 3–5 minutes until golden, blistered and exuding fat.

Step 3

Add the onions, leeks and garlic cloves and cook for about 8 minutes until soft.

Step 4

Add the tomatoes, paprika and rice and mix everything together until the rice is well coated and warmed through.

Step 5

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.

Step 6

Add the chickpeas to the surface of the rice and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid.

Step 7

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and the grains are just cooked through.

Step 8

Leave to rest for 5 minutes off the heat, with the lid on.

Step 9

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

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