Judías Pintas Con Arroz

Judías Pintas con Arroz (Spanish Red Bean and Rice Stew)

A hearty Castilian one-pot dish of slow-cooked pinto-style red beans served over rice, finished with a traditional garlic-and-onion sofrito thickened with a little flour and enriched with butter. The beans should be soft and creamy, almost stew-like, and the rice is briefly cooked in the bean broth to soak up the flavor.

Prep

20 min

Cook

110 min

Total

130 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •300 g (10½ oz) dried pinto beans (judías pintas), or dried borlotti/cranberry beans; not canned
• •1 whole (1 medium) bay leaf
• •1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
• •60 ml (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
• •1 whole (1 medium) yellow onion, finely chopped
• •4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• •1 tsp sweet Spanish paprika (pimentón dulce), do not substitute smoked unless you want a different dish
• •20 g (2 Tbsp) all-purpose flour
• •20 g (1½ Tbsp) unsalted butter
• •200 g (7 oz / 1 cup) short-grain white rice, Spanish calasparra or bomba is ideal; arborio is the closest home-kitchen substitute. Long-grain works but the texture will be looser.
• •500 ml (2 cups) warm water or reserved bean cooking liquid, for cooking the rice
• •1 pinch salt, for the rice water

Steps

1. 1 Pick over the dried beans, discard any stones or shriveled ones, rinse well, then soak overnight in plenty of cold water. (Quick-soak alternative: cover with water, bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and rest 1 hour.) Drain.
2. 2 Transfer the soaked beans to a heavy pot, cover with fresh cold water by about 5 cm (2 in), add the bay leaf, bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Skim any foam. Cook uncovered at a bare simmer for 75–90 minutes, adding hot water as needed to keep the beans covered, until they are tender and the skins just beginning to soften. Do not salt until the last 15 minutes, then add 1 tsp salt and continue simmering until the beans are fully creamy. You want about 600 ml (2½ cups) of cooking liquid left; top up with hot water if short. Keep warm.
3. 3 While the beans finish, make the sofrito: heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt and cook gently for 8–10 minutes until translucent and soft but not browned. Add the chopped garlic and cook 1 minute more, then stir in the pimentón dulce off the heat (paprika burns and turns bitter easily).
4. 4 Stir the flour into the sofrito and cook, stirring, for 1 minute to cook out the raw taste. Pour this thick onion–garlic–paprika roux into the pot of beans and stir to combine. Simmer 5 minutes to thicken the broth slightly; the consistency should coat the back of a spoon. Taste and adjust salt.
5. 5 Stir in the butter and keep the bean stew at a gentle simmer. Meanwhile, bring the 500 ml (2 cups) water to a boil in a separate small pot with a pinch of salt, add the rice, and cook at a low boil for 15–18 minutes (for calasparra/bomba) or per package directions for your rice, until the grains are tender and have absorbed most of the liquid but remain separate. Do not stir much; Spanish rice is not creamy like risotto.
6. 6 Drain the rice briefly if needed and divide among 4 shallow bowls. Spoon the judías pintas and their thickened broth generously around and over the rice. Serve hot, traditionally as a main course with a simple green salad and crusty bread.