Spain is famously known for paella, the tasty rice dish from Valencia. Today, I introduce to you a different type of Spanish rice dish, one that is absolutely delicious. Spanish Saffron Rice with Raisins & Pine Nuts. This rice dish is made with simple ingredients, has a beautiful sweet & savory flavor and it all comes together in about 30 minutes.
You can serve this Spanish saffron rice as a side dish or even as a main course, next to a salad for a complete and healthy meal. Either route you take, you will absolutely love this rice dish. With its Moorish influence, it´s the kinda rice dish that will rock your palate.
For this recipe I used round rice, it´s very similar to medium grain rice, which you can easily find in your supermarket. However, you can use any type of rice that you want in this recipe. Make sure to check the package instructions on the rice, as the water to rice ratio will be different.
The secret to this rice dish is to use a high-quality saffron. As this is what really gives this rice that beautful color and Mediterranean flavor. As always, I used saffron threads from Golden saffron. Their saffron is grade 1 high-quality premium saffron. In my opinion, the best one in the market when it comes to price to quality ratio.
Cookware that I use:
Swiss Diamond Chef´s Knife
Swiss Diamond Pans
Wood Cutting Board
Watch the Video Below on How to Make this Spanish Saffron Rice with Raisins & Pine Nuts
Spanish Saffron Rice with Raisins & Pine Nuts
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 onion
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup round rice
- 2 1/4 cups cold water
- 1/2 tsp saffron threads
- handful fresh chives
- pinch sea salt
- pinch black pepper
Instructions
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Add 1/2 cup of raisins into a bowl, cover the raisins with hot water and set aside, this will help soften the raisins
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Heat a nonstick fry pan with a medium heat and add a 1/4 cup of pine nuts, mix them around continuously so they all cook evenly and they don´t burn, after toasting them for 4 to 5 minutes remove them from the pan and set aside
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Heat a sauce pan with a medium-high heat and add 2 1/4 cups of cold water, pinch in 1/2 tsp of saffron threads and a generous pinch of sea salt
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Using the same nonstick fry pan heat it with a medium-high heat and add 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, after 2 minutes add 1/2 an onion that has been finely diced and 3 cloves of garlic that have been finely minced, mix with the oil and cook for 3 minutes
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After cooking the onions and garlic for 3 minutes add 1 cup of round rice into the pan, the raisins in the bowl (drain the water before adding), the toasted pine nuts and season everything with sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper, mix together until well combined
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At this point your saffron infused water should be boiling, add it into the fry pan with the rice, give it a gentle mix so everything is well distributed, after 6 minutes place a lid on the pan and lower the fire to a low-medium heat, after simmering for 4 minutes and there is almost no broth left, remove from the heat and set aside with the lid on, after 5 minutes remove the lid and top off the rice with some freshly chopped chives, enjoy!
Recipe Notes
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