Arroz con Gandules

Andy heard about this recipe from a co-worker and we had to try it. We really liked all the flavors, and we always enjoy using different ethnic ingredients. This tastes great on its own, or as I discovered, is very good inside a corn tortilla.

• 2 cups long grain rice
• 3 1/2 cups of boiling water
• 1 1/2 cups of chorizo, sliced bite size (we have used ground chorizo or ground pork)
• 2 Tablespoons of sofrito** (we don't make sofrito, we just add some of what we have on hand)
• 2 cans gandules (pigeon peas) can be found in ethnic aisle
• 1 tablespoon of alcaparrado without liquid (an olive mixture, we do not use)
• 1 ounce Cooking ham or smoked ham (we have left this out)
• 1 one packet of Sazon with achiote (again, find in ethnic aisle)
• 4 ounces of tomato sauce
• 2 Tablespoons of oil
• Salt to taste

**Sofrito: 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 Banana or Bell pepper (chopped in fine pieces), 1 tsp oregano, 3 cilantro leaves (chopped), 1 medium onion (chopped), and 2-3 Aji dulce peppers

In a dutch oven pot (or other pot) with lid fry the chorizo in oil. Add the tomato sauce, alcaparrado, sofrito and sazon to the pot and stir together. Cook at medium heat for 4 minutes. Add all other ingredients except the salt, pour the boiling water into the pot so the rice is submerged one inch below the water. Start with 1 teaspoon of salt stir and keep adding and mixing well until you are satisfied with the taste. Don’t cover yet, let the rice absorb the water. Once absorbed stir gently from bottom to top, cover and turn the heat down to low. Stirring once in between, cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until the rice is tender. Cover the Arroz con Gandules with Banana leaves while cooking for that Caribbean flavor! (we did not do this)

The second time we made this, we used leftover rice, mixed all ingredients together and baked them in a 9x13 pan for 30 min at 350º.

Serves 3 to 4