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Sweet Sofrito

Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo

Golden roast chicken over yellow rice with sofrito, olives, peas and red peppers, a classic for any day.

By Wanda Oyola 1 h Easy

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Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.

Yellow rice with browned chicken drumsticks, green peas, olives and red pepper strips in a pot.

Arroz con pollo is comfort in a caldero: golden rice colored with sazón and full of sofrito, olives and sweet peas, with tender pieces of chicken on top. It is one of the dishes cooked most often in Puerto Rican homes, simple enough for a weeknight and generous enough for company.

Here the work is split in two. The oven roasts drumsticks and thighs seasoned with adobo until the skin turns golden, and at the same time the Thermomix® TM7™ cooks the rice in chicken broth on reverse at soft speed, so every grain stays whole. Then the chicken and its juices go on top of the rice.

Made in the Thermomix® TM7™

Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo

Makes: 4 servings

  • Prep15 min
  • Cook45 min
  • Total1 h
  • Serves4

Ingredients

For the chicken

For the rice

To serve

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Pat the chicken dry, rub it with the oil, adobo, sazón and oregano and place it skin side up in a roasting pan. Roast 20 minutes.
  2. Add the pepper strips to the pan around the chicken and roast 15 to 20 minutes more, until the skin is golden and the chicken reaches 74°C (165°F) next to the bone.
  3. While the chicken roasts, place the oil and sofrito in the mixing bowl and sauté 5 min/120°C (250°F)/reverse/speed 1.
  4. Add the tomato sauce, sazón and alcaparrado and sauté 2 min/120°C (250°F)/reverse/speed 1.
  5. Add the rice, broth, salt and bay leaf and stir with the spatula so all the rice sits under the liquid. Place the simmering basket on the mixing bowl lid instead of the measuring cup and cook 22 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft.
  6. Add the peas and cook 3 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft. Taste a few grains; if the rice is still firm, add 50 g (3 tbsp) hot water and cook 3 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft more.
  7. Spread the rice in a wide serving dish or caldero, remove the bay leaf and arrange the chicken and peppers on top. Spoon the roasting juices over the rice, scatter the olives and serve.

Tips

  • Broth and adobo both carry salt. If your broth is not low sodium, leave out the 1/2 tsp salt in the rice.
  • Start the chicken first and the rice right after: both are ready at about the same time.
  • Prefer boneless? Use 700 g (1 1/2 lb) boneless thighs and roast them 20 to 25 minutes in total.
  • Leftovers keep 3 days in the fridge. Reheat covered, with a splash of broth.

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