STOVETOP PRAWN & TOMATO RICE
a trip to Lanzarote + a very special, remarkably simple, rice dish.
Hey folks!
Welcome back to How I Cook!
Today we’re cooking a recipe inspired by my recent trip to the island of Lanzarote and some delicious giant red prawns. Not only will making this recipe make you feel like you’re on a gorgeous volcanic island, but it’ll teach you a handful of valuable cooking techniques. How to whip up a very quick prawn and tomato stock, how to prep and cook prawns, cook rice with the “no stir” absorption method and build flavour in a paella-style recipe. It’s a serious home run, if I do say so myself.
We’ve also got a folk-rock album from California and my take on the new 28 days later sequel.
Thanks for reading!
B x
PS - if you haven’t pre-ordered the book yet, get on it! 7 weeks to go…
Listen, I famously dislike risotto. The homogenous, every-bite-the-same experience of a big bowl of creamy rice is just not up my alley. While this might suggest that I don’t like rice at all, that’d be far from the truth. In fact, I’m obsessed with rice. Steamy, dressed sushi rice, perfect pilaf and I go mad for biryani. In my book, beyond any of these, the peak rice eating experience can be found in Spain. A giant, crispy pan of rice landing on your table, ideally showered in seafood, is as good as it gets. That’s how they cook rice in Spain and also, as I have recently discovered, the Canary Islands…
LANZAROTE
Touching down on the tarmac at Arrecife airport feels a little like discovering a settlement on mars. The island’s otherworldly feel has been carved out of lava, wind and salt, which is at once deeply romantic but also renders some sections of Lanzarote desperately uninhabitable. As you drive down pristine ropes of tarmac, draped across great fields of diamond-hard jagged volcanic rock, between volcanoes and black sand beaches, it’s hard not to be completely stunned by the Island’s natural beauty. It is uniquely breathtaking. You can cover the island, top to bottom, in about an hour, and provided you avoid the package holiday destinations of Playa Blanca and Playa Del Carmen, and you’re rewarded with an island littered with gorgeous beaches, culture-fixes, fantastic food and real style.
The influence and legacy of 20th-century artist and architect César Manrique is felt on every inch of the island, his art and design is everywhere and they even named the airport after him. How is it that every single house on the island is white and green? No coincidence - that was Manrique, too. Guess what, you can stay at his old house! Hotel César sits in a beautiful spot, flanked by towering volcanoes, cleverly designed vineyards and stunning views of the ocean, the hotel has been built around the old villa, with many of its original features preserved. Even the pool is modelled on César’s work. It’s a stunning base for your visit to the island. You can check out the the gorgeous César hotel here.
LA SANTA PRAWNS
Just as Spain is proud of it’s Jamon and Sherry wines, Lanzarote is proud of its prawns. La Santa, a small town on the north western coast of the island is home to two things; Sinewy Iron Man athletes and big fat red prawns. Not only does the town boast one of the most popular sport-holiday destination hotels in the world (rather you than me) it also hauls in hundreds of some of the world’s best prawns. Lanzaroteños are immeasurably proud of them and you’ll find the big reds on menus across every corner of the island. We had them mixed through potatoes with fried eggs, a delightful riff on huevos rotos, slowly poached in a big pot of fideuà, cooked over charcoal and served with a chunk of lemon and lashings of olive oil and of course, with a crispy, ultra light rice dish. The latter completely stole the show and has been on the hit list for a home cook ever since. Alas, I can’t get hold of La Santa prawns in South East London, and I’m assuming you can’t either, so I’ve adapted the recipe for folks living outside of the volcanic island. The biggest challenge is infusing your rice with as much prawn flavour as possible, and I think I’ve cracked it. It’s all in the stock, basically. So, in honour of that incredible pan of rice, enjoyed on the beach, here’s how you can make something similar at home…
THE RIGHT RICE
There’s only one grain for the job here really, paella style dishes should be made with Bomba or Calasparra rice. These are both Spanish grains that are on the shorter end of things. They’re perfect for these preparations thanks to their ability to absorb lots and lots of liquid without becoming mushy or overly creamy. Sure, if you cooked them in the same manner as you would a risotto (hell), then they’d behave in a similar way, but when cooked, untouched and allowed to become perfectly cooked and a little crisp, they’re completely perfect. Both varieties are very easy to get hold of, no sweat.
THE RIGHT PAN
For this recipe to work really, really well, you want to use the biggest pan you can get your hands. The goal is to make that layer of rice as thin as possible. The dream scenario is to have a layer of rice just a few grains thick! I appreciate that this is a tall order and any wide frying pan will turn out delicious prawn and tomato rice! In an ideal world, you want to be shooting for a pan that is at least 28-30cm wide.
I’m a big fan of the Netherton Foundry Prospector Pan, a 30cm spun-iron roasting dish. I’ve used it in my pizza oven, on the stove, over a live fire, it’s bulletproof. It can turn out a very good paella, baked clams, braised chicken legs, or whole roasted fish. It’s also very, very good looking which makes it perfect to plonk down in the middle of the table. A great bonus pan for your kitchen.
FLAVOUR BASE
The base for the rice is where the flavour for the whole dish begins. With just four ingredients (onion, garlic, paprika and tomato) and the right technique you can build a rich, savoury jam-like foundation for your rice. It’s important that you cook each of the ingredients to the right texture before adding the next. The onion should almost confit in the olive oil becoming very soft, before then adding the garlic to barely cook (I enjoy the flavour of slightly raw garlic here), then the paprika and then tomato. The whole thing reduces into a thick, rich paste that will coat the rice beautifully. Don’t be shy with the olive oil either, coating the grains with fat will help them stay separated and keep the dish nice and light in texture. I’ve gone for sweet smoked paprika, but if you like things spicy, swap for hot.
STOCK
When cooking rice in this style, stock is everything! It’s the vehicle that will deliver flavour to every single bite of the pan and give your rice the crispy texture we’re after. I want this recipe to be as simple as possible and with that in mind I’m not calling for a fresh stock here. Instead, we’re going whip up a quick tomato and prawn stock herre using water, tomato puree and the shells and heads of the prawns. Cook these three ingredients together for just 10-15 minutes and you’ll be rewarded with a perfumed stock that will carry that uniquely prawn-y flavour into every single bite of your rice. It’s a great little corner cut, if you ask me.
THE “NO STIR” RULE
The best bit of paella is known as the “socarrat”, the crispy layer of rice and stock at the bottom and we’re going to shoot for the moon here and pull it off at home in a regular frying pan. In Valencia, paellas are often cooked outdoors over live fire, but we can do it in the home kitchen. Once the rice hits the pan, do not stir it! As soon as you stir a short grain rice like paella rice, it’ll start to release starch and make the stock super creamy and the dish will become too stodgy. If you really feel the urge, shake the pan gently to even things out, put the spoon down!
GARNISH
Nailing the cook on the rice is priority number one here - really, like a good bowl of pasta in Italy, the carb is the star of the show, the garnish is just there to elevate the experience of eating it. For garnish, we’re going to gently steam those prawns we used to make stock on top alongside some fragrant rosemary and little wedges of lemon. It might seem over the top to dress the pan with seven wedges of lemon, but there’s method in the madness. As you work your way through the pan of rice you can season each bite and each prawn with a little lemon juice. You’ll notice too that the rice that surrounds the sprigs of rosemary is super fragrant. Keeping them whole as sprigs not only makes them easy to navigate once the pan has been served it’s is a nod to the traditional paella preparation.
PRAWN & TOMATO RICE
This will take you about 45 minutes to put together and serve two.
INGREDIENTS
8-10 Raw Large Shell-On Prawns
Tiny Pinch of Saffron
2 Tbsp Tomato Puree
2 Large Ripe Tomatoes
1 Onion
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Tsp Sweet Smoked Paprika
220g Bomba Paella Rice
25g Rosemary, tied into a bunch with the rind from one of the lemons
2 Lemons
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Salt, Black Pepper
METHOD
First things first, we’ve got to make a quick prawn and tomato stock. Working over a saucepan so you catch any bits, twist the heads off the prawns, peel the shells and drop them into the pan. Add the saffron and then cover with 1L of water. Add the tomato puree and stir together. Set over a medium heat and bring to a simmer. Let it tick over for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the other bits and pieces. Remove the veins from the back of the prawns and set aside.
Halve the tomatoes and use the coarse side of a box grater set in a bowl to grate the flesh into a pulp. Use the flat of your palm to hold the tomato and keep grating until you’ve just got the skin left. Discard the skin. Peel and finely dice the onion and finely chop the garlic cloves.
Place a paella pan or your largest frying pan over a medium heat. Pour in roughly 50ml of olive oil and once hot, tip in the onion and cook with a pinch of salt for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic, the smoked paprika and the grated tomatoes, cook for about 2 mins until the oil starts separating from the tomatoes and they’ve become jammy. Tip in the rice and stir through the mix. Cook for a couple of minutes, coating the grains with oil and toasting them a little.
Add the stock (holding back the prawn shells) and give the pan a shake to distribute everything evenly. Have a taste and make sure you’re happy with the seasoning. Bring to a boil and cook over a medium-high heat for 12-14 mins. You’ll see the stock reduce and reduce, travelling down past the rice and closer to the pan. Taste a grain of rice to check the cook, it should be firm but nearly cooked after this time.
Add the rosemary and prawns over the top of the rice. Lower the heat, cover the surface of the pan with a tea towel or piece of foil and let it bubble away for another 2-3 minutes. The stock will have almost entirely cooked away by this point and for the final few minutes we’re going to crank up the heat to get that crispy bottom.
Remove the lid and cook on high for the final two minutes until the rice begins to crackle and sizzle, it’ll smell like toasted shellfish and fill your kitchen. Remove from the heat, and let rest for 5 mins before serving with fresh lemon wedges.
Payador by Tim Hill
I dug this one up out of the archives this week. A very pleasant folk-country-rock record from Tim Hill. Infused with Spanish guitar, a lackadaisical approach to percussion and equally chill slide guitar it’s the perfect album for a sunny weekend spent cooking. You will need a perspiring bottle of good, ice-cold mexican lager sitting on the counter, too. Give it a spin.
Album Highlights: Bitter Drop, Payador, Paris, Texas
28 Years Later by Alex Garland & Danny Boyle
Monday evening, I wandered into the mighty Peckhamplex cinema and caught a late showing of the latest in Danny Boyle’s sprinting-undead franchise. Boyle has resurrected the “28 somethings later” universe, and while it looks and feels familiar, it is oh so different…
Back in 2002, Boyle and longtime collaborator Alex Garland delivered a groundbreaking horror with a tight cast and even tighter budget in 28 days later. It proved an instant classic, praised for its revival of the zombie genre and it’s gritty, visceral feel. It’s an absolute belter of a movie and if you live in London, you’ll get a kick out of the locations, too. Cillian Murphy stumbles across a deserted, litter-strewn Westminster bridge, into Piccadilly, across to Deptford before seeking refuge in the iconic Balfron Tower. Equal parts zombie horror flick and political allegory, It’s a near perfect picture. The triumphant 28 days later was then followed up by a decidedly lacklustre sequel (out of Boyle’s hands, thankfully) before the franchise fell silent. Well, as they say, we’re so back…
The first in a three part series of films set in the time of the “rage” virus starts strong. We meet Spike, Jamie and Isla, a family living in a community on Holy Island, just north of Newcastle. Following Spike’s maiden voyage across the tidal path that separates the island from the infected infested mainland and his journey from boy to man is a thrill. Guided by his troubled father, Spike claims his first infected kill, encounters mammoth herds of un-culled deer and is chased by terrifying “alpha” infected. It’s an high-octane, all gas no brakes start and a brilliant opening act. Annoyingly, the movie then begins to lose momentum, big time. In the name of spoiler saving, I’ll stop there but for my money there are too many moments of graphic-novel infused absurdity that drag this movie far from it’s gritty origins. Temples made of bones, an iodine soaked, murderous GP, pregnant infected, distracting prosthetics, (you’ll see…), unexplained tribal masks and an ending so bizarre, you won’t know whether to laugh or cry. Don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely worth a watch, and I can’t wait to see what the next instalment brings, but don’t sit down with your popcorn expecting 28 days later...
Thanks for reading everyone!
Happy rice cooking,
B x
Can’t wait to try this out Ben - big fan of making rice based one-pan meals as they’re quick to do for mid-week dinner, super tasty and make plenty of left overs for lunches during the week. Also, loved your review of 28 Years later. Definitely had similar feelings about it and the last minute reveal of the Jimmy’s felt like another movie had just gatecrashed the party. Still - it’s definitely got me interested about the next chapters!
This is the first Paella I have made at home that not only turned out, but tasted absolutely incredible. I tripled the recipe, divided between two 33cm pans, and it came out so perfectly, all of my children gobbled it up, basically licking their plates, begging for me to cook it again asap. Your Substack is one of the very few I make sure to never lose access to. What a gift you are.