Portuguese Seafood Rice

You have heard of Seafood Spaghetti, Seafood Risotto, even Seafood Paella, but have you heard of Portuguese Seafood Rice, Arroz de Marisco?

Change up the usual Christmas spread this year by serving a non-traditional Christmas dish that can feed a hungry crowd! Similar to a risotto but saucier, home cook Lilian Liong’s recipe for Portuguese Seafood Rice is extremely flavourful. The rich, tangy tomato sauce made with Del Monte tomato paste brings out the natural sweetness of the seafood for a complex flavour profile in such a simple dish.

But if you are worried about cooking seafood, don’t worry! This delicious one-pan dish is surprisingly easy to cook! Hence, not only is it a great alternative Christmas dinner idea, it will also be one of the best Christmas party foods that you can have at your gatherings!

Portuguese Seafood Rice

Here are the ingredients that you will need: onions, tomatoes, garlic, chicken stock, prawns, cuttlefish, mussels, clams, olive oil, paprika powder, bay leaves, carnaroli rice, coriander, and Del Monte tomato paste.

Del Monte Tomato Paste

To get started, pre-cook the prawns first.

In a saucepan, heat up the olive oil and garlic. Fry until it is fragrant.

Fry the garlic until fragrant

Add the prawns and sear them until they are cooked halfway through only then remove them from the heat and set aside. #Tip: pre-cooking the prawns on high heat brings out more flavour and gives them a more vibrant colour!

Sear both sides of the prawns for a nice colour

Next, prepare the gravy for the dish.

Add the prawn heads, shells, and chopped onions to the pan and stir fry. Use the back of the spatula to mash and squeeze out the tomalley from the prawn heads.

Add the prawn heads, shells, and onion to the pan and stir fry

Use the back of the spatula to press and squeeze out the tomalley from the prawn heads

Then add the tomatoes, Del Monte tomato paste, bay leaves, and paprika. Stir fry and mix well for two minutes then add the chicken stock and bring it up to a boil.

Add bay leaves, tomato paste, tomatoes, and paprika

Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil

Add the coriander sprigs and cover the dish to simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

Add coriander sprigs and cover the dish to simmer for 30 minutes

Once the 30 minutes are up, it is time to cook the rice and seafood.

Uncover the dish and remove the coriander, prawn heads and shells from the gravy. Discard these ingredients.

Remove and discard the prawn heads, shells, bay leaves, and coriander

Then add the rice, cover with the lid and let the rice cook by simmering for another 25 minutes.

Add the carnaroli rice

Cover with lid and simmer for 25 minutes

When the rice is cooked, add the seafood, cover with the lid again and cook for five minutes or until the clams and mussels are open and cooked through. #Tip: taste the rice before adding the seafood to check if they are cooked through. If the rice is still hard, cover and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add in all the seafood, cover with the lid and cook for 10 minutes

Lastly, place the dish on a serving plate and garnish the dish with fresh coriander. If you would like to go fancier, drizzle with some truffle oil to finish!

Your Portuguese Seafood Rice is ready!

Get the recipe below!

Portuguese Seafood Rice

• CourseMain Dish

• CuisineWestern

• KeywordPortuguese Seafood Rice

Servings6-8 people

Prep Time15 minutes

Cook Time1 hour

Ingredients

• 2 onionschopped

• 2 tomatoeschopped

• 8cloves garlicsliced

• 170g Del Monte Tomato Paste

• 1litre chicken stock

• 6 large prawnsremove and set aside shells and heads

• 1whole cuttlefishdeskinned and sliced

• 200g mussels

• 250g clams

• 6tbsp olive oil

• 2tbsp paprika powder

• 4 bay leaves

• 1cup carnaroli ricewashed

• 4sprigs corianderfor gravy

• chopped coriander leavesfor garnish

Instructions

Pre-cook the prawns

1. Heat up a saucepan, add olive oil and garlic. Fry till fragrant.

2. Add prawns and cook until they are cooked halfway through. Remove prawns and set aside.

Prepare the gravy

1. Add the prawn heads, shells and onion to the pan. Using the back of the spatula, squeeze out the tomalley from the prawn heads.

2. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves and paprika. Stir fry to mix well for 2 minutes.

3. Add chicken stock and bring the sauce to a boil.

4. Add coriander sprigs, put the lid on and simmer the gravy on low heat for 30 minutes.

Cook the rice and seafood

1. Remove and discard coriander, prawn heads and shells from the gravy.

2. Add rice grains, put the lid on and simmer for a further 25 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper and do a taste test here to adjust the seasoning to your taste.

3. After the rice is cooked, add the seafood, put the lid on and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the seafood are cooked through.

Garnish and serve

1. Place the rice and seafood on a serving plate and garnish with fresh coriander. #Tip: to elevate the dish further, drizzle with truffle oil to finish.

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