Spanish Creamy Mushrooms Rice
Italian risottos have taken the fame when talking about cooking rice at home, but in Spain we cook it very similarly yet healthier, without the need of using butter and cheese. When cooking rice Spanish style we let the ingredients that we use do the talking as opposed to enriching it with butter and cheese and the creamy texture is achieved by stirring it frequently too As Spanish paella rice is so starchy it ends up with a velvety texture. Give it a go and you won’t be disappointed.
INGREDIENTS
120ml olive oil £0.28
500g chestnut mushrooms, sliced £1.18
2 red onions, into wedges £0.11
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped £0.15
1 tsp sweet paprika £0.07
1 tomato, grated £0.15
100ml white wine £0.50
300g Spanish paella rice £0.84
1.2 litres water
Pinch of oregano £0.03
2 mushrooms stock cubes £0.40
5 sprigs of fresh thyme £0.25
Salt £0.01
Pepper £0.01
TOTAL £3.98 / 4 = £1
Preparation
On a wide frying pan or large pot over high heat, pour the olive oil and fry the mushrooms and red onion for 15 minutes. First the mushrooms will release some water, let it evaporate and it will start frying after, this is normal, let both ingredients caramelise properly.
Season with salt, add the garlic, the crumbled mushrooms stock cubes and fry for 1 minute before adding the paprika and the tomato. Give it a good stir and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the rice. Stir vigorously for 2 minutes and pour the white wine, let it reduce down for 30 seconds and pour the hot water over it.
Add the oregano, black pepper, give it a good stir and let it boil for 5 minutes before lowering down the heat to low, adding the thyme sprigs and letting it simmer, stirring every so often, for a further 11 minutes and it is ready to serve.
