Arroz à Valenciana (Portuguese-Style Paella with Pork and Seafood)
- Prep
- 25 min
- Total
- 1 h 15 min
- Servings
- 4
- Calories
- 580 kcal
Arroz à valenciana is the Portuguese version of paella: rice with pork, seafood, peppers and tomato in a saffron broth. It’s a complete, festive dish that pleases the whole family.
The name comes from Valencia, on Spain’s east coast, where rice has been grown in flooded fields since the Moors brought it to the Iberian Peninsula. In Portugal the dish took its own shape: it’s made in a pot, with more broth than a paella.
Recipe
Arroz à Valenciana
Portuguese-style arroz à valenciana, with pork, shrimp, squid and clams in a tomato and vegetable base. A complete dish for sharing with the family.
Ingredients
Method
- 1Put a large pot on the heat with the margarine and olive oil. Add the squid rings and sauté. Add the cubed tomato and cook until soft. Then add the carrot rounds and the green pepper strips. Cover and cook a little.
- 2Add the cubed pork and sauté a little. Add the clams and mix everything. Boil the shrimp in salted water for 2 minutes. Drain, straining and keeping the broth. Peel the shrimp, keeping a few in their shells to garnish.
- 3Add the rice to the pot with the shrimp broth and more water, mixed with a little saffron, to make a little more than twice the volume of the rice. Bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper and cook for 13 minutes.
- 4Just before it's done, add the sliced sausages, the peas and the peeled shrimp. Take off the heat, garnish with the red pepper strips and the shrimp you kept in their shells. Serve at once.
Paella or arroz à valenciana?
Paella is made in a wide, shallow pan to form a crust on the bottom (socarrat) and uses bomba rice. Arroz à valenciana is made in a pot, with carolino rice and more broth, almost soupy: the version adapted to Portuguese taste.
Tips
To save on saffron, use turmeric for color and a little sweet paprika for flavor. Add seafood such as mussels or langoustines in the last 8 to 10 minutes so it doesn’t toughen. For a version without seafood, use chicken thighs, more chouriço and chicken stock.
