Ingredients
- 14-16 oz. bag of frozen gandules
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- ¼ lb. salted pork
- ¼ lb. cooking ham with bone
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 heaping tbsp. Sofrito
- 1 envelope Sazon seasoning
- ½ tsp. oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1-1/2 tbsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. ground pepper
- ¼ cup tomato sauce
- 3 cups rice
- 3 cups water
- 2-3 bay leaves
- ¼ cup sliced Spanish olives
- 2 banana leaves
Directions
- In a medium pot, put gandules in one cup of water and bring to a boil over medium heat, about 7-8 minutes, uncovered. Meanwhile, you will be making the base for this dish:
- In a dutch oven pot, add the canola oil over a medium flame.
- Dice the salted pork into about 1-inch cubes, add to the pot and then lower the flame.
- Cut ham into about 1-inch cubes and add to the pot, and give a short stir.
- Let this cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, mash 2 of the 4 cloves of garlic in a pilon, then add the rest, mashing one at a time and then add to the pot. Give it a short stir.
- By this time, the gandules will be boiling. You can now turn off the flame. Then, to your dutch oven pot, add the Sofrito and stir.
- Add the Sazon, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper and tomato sauce. Then give it a nice big stir.
- Add the rice and the water to the pot. Turn up to medium flame. Add the gandules, bay leaves and the sliced olives. Stir and taste.
- Cover the pot and cook for about 15 minutes. Then check to see how the rice looks.
- Stir a bit and then lower the flame. You can now make a “mountain” with the rice, if you wish.
- Cover rice with the 2 banana leaves and then cover the pot and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Uncover and fluff the rice. You’re done!
Enjoy!
our chefs
