How to make
A classic dish from the Spanish cuisine and especially the Mediterranean area. Caldoso rice is a stew prepared mainly with seafood, but there are also options with only vegetables or game meat such as duck or quail.
In this recipe we will make rice with vegetables and emphasize on the artichokes, which are very popular and used in the Spanish cuisine in all forms and for many dishes.
First, clean them from the outer leaves, remove a few layers of them, because they are hard and shouldn't be consumed. Leave the brittle core and cut off the tip (it is also hard and tough). If the artichokes have a stem, do not remove it, but leave it and just peel it from the outer layer.
Cut each core into quarters and immerse them in cold water with squeezed lemon juice, so that the vegetables do not darken.
Prepare the rest of the vegetables - peel and chop the onion and garlic into small pieces.
The carrots can be grated or cut into small cubes, the peppers, celery and green leaves of beetroot or spinach are also chopped. Optionally, you add other vegetables that you have - for example, about 50 g of zucchini, green beans or eggplant (necessarily peeled and finely chopped).
In a deep cookware, called Caldero in Spanish, but you can use a wok or pot, heat the olive oil. Fry all of the vegetables in it without the onions and garlic for 10 minutes over medium heat.
Add the onion and garlic and cook for another 10 minutes, then add tomato puree, paprika, saffron and salt.
Pour the water and put the artichoke quarters in it.
Boil for 20 minutes, add the rice and leave it to simmer for 13 minutes, no more.
The goal is to have a sauce and the rice to be al dente, because then it is left for 5-10 minutes and it absorbs more.
The dish is served as soon as it is left for these minutes, because if it is left for a longer period of time, it will absorb the liquid and will not be Caldoso.
The Caldoso Rice with Artichokes is very tasty.
