Tomato Rice with Tuna & Peppers

📝 Ingredients

• 300 g long-grain rice
• 3 tins tuna in spring water (about 310 g drained)
• 1 large brown onion (about 150 g)
• 1 red pepper + 1 green pepper (about 150 g each)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400 g)
• 1 tbsp tomato purée (15 g)
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 vegetable stock cube + 500 ml hot water
• 150 g frozen peas
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 15 g fresh parsley
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large sauté pan with lid
• Colander
• Chopping board
• Kitchen knife
• Wooden spoon
• Tin opener

📖 Steps

1. Rinse the rice in a sieve under cold running water, stirring it with your fingers, until the water runs almost clear: this removes the starch and stops the rice being sticky. Leave to drain. Drain the tuna by pressing down on the lid and roughly flake it.
2. Peel and slice the onion. Wash the peppers, remove the stalk, seeds and white membranes, then cut into roughly 1 cm dice. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Dissolve the stock cube in the 500 ml hot water.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and peppers with a pinch of salt and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until soft and lightly golden at the edges.
4. Add the garlic, paprika and tomato purée and stir for 1 minute: the mixture should smell fragrant without burning, so turn the heat down if it sticks. Add the drained rice and stir for 1 to 2 minutes so every grain is well coated.
5. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and stock, season with pepper and stir, scraping the bottom. Bring to a gentle boil, then cover, turn the heat down to low and cook for 15 minutes, stirring just once halfway through so the rice doesn't stick.
6. Add the peas straight from frozen, stir, cover and cook for another 5 minutes. The rice is ready when it's tender and the liquid is almost absorbed; if it's still firm and dry, add a small glass of hot water and cook for 3 more minutes.
7. Off the heat, gently fold in the flaked tuna without stirring too much so it stays in nice chunks. Cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes: the tuna warms through and the rice finishes swelling. Meanwhile, wash, dry and chop the parsley.
8. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt carefully as the tuna and stock are already salty. Scatter with parsley and serve piping hot, straight from the pan set in the middle of the table.