One-pot Spanish rice

This recipe is perfectly suited to camping, reliant as it is on nonperishable ingredients. Throw in some seafood (mussels and clams are especially good) towards the end of the cooking time, if you come across any on the day.

SERVES FOUR INGREDIENTS

Olive oil, for frying

A whole head of garlic

1 large onion, finely diced 1 pepper (any colour), deseeded and diced

150g chorizo sausage, sliced into coins

2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped

½ tbsp sweet smoked paprika 300g paella rice

A pinch of saffron

1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 lemon, cut into wedges to serve

METHOD

Heat a good splash of olive oil in a pan that’s large enough to hold the rice and has a lid, and fry the whole head of garlic for two or three minutes, until golden all over. Put the garlic to one side, reserving the oil in the pan.

Add the onion and pepper to the pan and cook over a moderate heat for about eight minutes until the onions are soft and translucent.

Add the chorizo and tomatoes to the pan and fry for about five minutes until the tomato breaks down and thickens a bit. Add the paprika, a teaspoon of salt and the rice, and stir to coat.

Next, add the saffron and 450ml cold water, bring to the boil, then scatter over the chickpeas and nestle the whole fried garlic into the middle of the rice.

Cover tightly with the lid and cook for about 18 minutes until the rice is cooked through and all the liquid is absorbed. Allow to rest for five minutes off the heat, still covered tightly.

Serve with the lemon wedges to squeeze, and don’t forget to divide the garlic cloves among the plates, squeezing out the cooked garlic pulp from each of the cloves.