Spanish Rice with Chickpeas and Peppers

• 3 tbspolive oil
• 1large onion, finely chopped
• 2red peppers, cut into 2cm pieces
• 3garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tspsmoked paprika
• 300gpaella rice
• 1 x 400gtin chopped tomatoes
• 700mlhot vegetable stock
• 2 x 400gtins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 150gfrozen peas
• 1lemon
• fine salt
• black pepper

Method

1. 1Heat the olive oil in a wide lidded pan, about 28cm, over a medium heat. Add the onion and peppers with a teaspoon of salt and cook for 8 minutes until soft and golden at the edges. Soft peppers are sweet; rushed peppers are squeaky.
2. 2Stir in the garlic and smoked paprika for 1 minute until it smells smoky, then tip in the rice and stir for 1 minute until every grain is glossy with oil.
3. 3Add the tomatoes, hot stock, chickpeas, another teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper. Stir once to level everything out, then bring to the boil.
4. 4Turn the heat right down, put the lid on and cook for 15 minutes until the liquid has almost gone and the rice is tender with a slight bite. Do not stir; the crust that forms on the bottom is the best part of the pan.
5. 5Scatter the peas over the top, put the lid back on and cook for 3 minutes until they are bright green and hot. Take the pan off the heat and leave it covered for 3 minutes so the rice finishes in its own steam.
6. 6Squeeze over the juice of half the lemon and fork it through, scraping up the crusty bottom. Taste; it wants enough salt to make the paprika sing and a little more lemon if it tastes heavy. Cut the rest of the lemon into wedges and serve straight from the pan.

Per serving

kcal

626

protein

19.3g

fibre

15.4g

carbs

107.7g

fat

13.7g