Puerto Rican Rice and Pigeon Peas
If you want to serve this as a main dish, increase the amount of ham called for in the recipe. Otherwise, the recipe serves 8 as a side dish.
INGREDIENTS | SERVES 8
- ½ pound dried gandules (pigeon peas)
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 ounce salt pork or bacon, chopped
- 2 ounces cooked ham, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 green pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 medium tomato, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon annatto oil (recipe at bottom)
- 2 cups chicken broth or water
- 1 cup instant white rice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Add the gandules and water to a 6-quart Dutch oven; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover and turn off the heat; allow to sit for 1 hour. Drain, reserving 1 ½ cups of the water.
Add the oil, salt pork or bacon, and ham to the Dutch oven and sauté over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, red pepper, green pepper, and onion; sauté until the onion is transparent.
Add the tomato, drained gandules, and reserved water. Bring to a boil; cover and lower the heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until the gandules are almost tender and have absorbed most of the liquid.
Stir in the annatto oil and broth or water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the rice, cover, turn off the burner, and let set for 30 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
Stir to fluff the rice. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
