Spanish Rice

Spanish Rice? Mexican Rice?  Rice? I don’t have any idea what the proper PC term is for the rice my Italian grandmother, married to my Mexican grandfather, made once or twice weekly.  Since I partially owe my cooking abilities to her, this dish will be hitherto called Spanish rice because that’s what she called it and it’s her dish! I’m certain this was taught to her by one of her sister-in-laws early in their marriage or even perhaps my great-grandmother.  These are questions I wish I could have asked when I had the chance. Now that we got that out of the way, let me tell you why I love this dish.  I’ve mentioned I love sauce.  If I haven’t, I love sauce. Well, after this dish finishes cooking and you open that lid for the first time, the tomato sauce has formed this tender crust at the top of the rice.  Once you stir the rice gently, it mixes in, but not without creating a few of these little pockets of rice filled with this full flavored sauce.  I seek those pockets out.  I will tenderly and painstakingly sift the rice to locate these little pillows of deliciousness.  There aren’t a lot of them, but when I find one…heaven!

This is a very simple and basic recipe.  There are countless versions of rice of this style, but this is my favorite because it is my grandmother’s.  We all tend to be a bit biased where our grandmother’s cooking is concerned, don’t we?

When I make this, I make enough to eat it for days and use in many leftover dishes…those will be posted shortly.