The Portuguese Squid Stew I made earlier this week was both a nice introduction to Portuguese food and an excellent comfort food. This recipe for Portuguese Tomato Rice (Arroz de Tomate) sounded like it would be a great way to continue on both themes. I served my tomato rice with grilled chicken breasts, but I imagine it would pair well with almost anything.
It’s a dish that is super easy to prepare – and also very delicious! Diced onions and garlic are sautéed in bacon fat and the tomatoes are then added and allowed to simmer so they too pick up the wonderful, smoky bacon flavor! Finally rice and broth are added – and it all cooks together until the rice is tender.
The Ingredients
This recipe is another example of a short and sweet list of ingredients. It’s also full of pantry staples, so your shopping list is likely to be very short and inexpensive. I had most of the ingredients on hand, so all I needed to buy was the tomatoes, onion, and vegetable broth.
The Process
With only 6 steps to make, this recipe was easy to make. It took me a total of 59 minutes with 9 minutes of that for prep work. The time listed on the recipe was 50 minutes, so my tomato rice took just a touch longer than expected.
I didn’t have bacon fat or lard, so I fried 2 strips of bacon while I was chopping the vegetables. That gave me exactly 1 tablespoon of bacon fat with not a drop to spare. I recommend frying 3-4 pieces just to be on the safe side.
Everything else went just as the directions stated until the final step. My rice was a little soggy, so I let it sit for about 5 minutes to absorb the extra water. Then I fluffed it with a fork, adjusted the seasonings, and it was perfect.
