Description
Our traditional well seasoned rice dish that is served during the Christmas Holidays! We use fresh homegrown pigeon peas for this recipe.
Scale
Ingredients
- 1 cup of fresh green pigeon peas, shelled and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon salt (low sodium)
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 minced garlic gloves
- 2 tablespoon tomato sauce
- 2 seasoning envelopes with coriander and annatto
- 2 to 3 tablespoons sofrito
- 3 fresh sprigs cilantro, chopped
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 10 pimento green-stuffed olives
- ½ cup to 1 cup lean diced ham
- 3 cups long-grain white rice
Instructions
- In a saucepan, add fresh green pigeon peas and cover with water.
- Bring the water to a boil. Add salt. Reduce heat to medium. Cover with lid and cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until pigeon peas are tender.
- Place strainer over a large measuring cup and separate liquid from pigeon peas.
- Measure the liquid from the pigeon peas. Add more water to liquid to measure 3½ cups of liquid. Set aside.
- In a 5-quart saucepan, add all the ingredients except for the rice and liquid. Stir until all the ingredients are well blended and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Pour 3½ cups of liquid that we measured earlier into the saucepan and bring the liquid to a boil.
- Check if salt content is to your liking before adding rice to the boiling water. Add rice and stir rice well into liquid.
- Reduce heat to simmer when the liquid starts to boil again.
- Cover saucepan with tight-fitting lid. Simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
- Turn the rice by inserting a spoon to the bottom inside edge of the saucepan. Bring the bottom rice to the top and continue this process until the rice is turned.
- Place a banana leaf over rice (optional). Cover with lid and simmer for 30 minutes or until rice is tender.
- Remove banana leaf. Serve with roasted pork shoulder (pernil) and pasteles (our version of tamales).
Notes
Some individuals prefer to prepare this dish with annatto oil then omit the seasoning envelopes with coriander and annatto. Visit food blogging post on how to prepare annatto oil.
The fresh pigeon were shelled and stored in the freezer.
- Category: Rice and Grains
- Method: Boiling
- Cuisine: Puerto Rican
Keywords: Rice with Fresh Pigeon Peas, Arroz con Gandules Frescos