Sweet paella rice with goat’s milk. rhubarb and goat’s cheese

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I am a huge fan of paella and there are so many wonderful recipes. Whilst it is traditional for men to take charge of cooking the paella over a paellero, a type of barbeque for cooking the dish, you would be hard pressed to get me out of the kitchen and not to be in charge of the cooking! There is much to be learnt about making the perfect paella and one of the best books around that I have found to enable you to expand your repertoire of paella dishes has to be Alberto Harraiz’s book Paella, which is a well used tome in my library.

I’ve mentioned before my newly found love of goat’s cheese, so when I discovered this recipe, which also includes rhubarb and morello cherries, I had to try it and was I thrilled with the result. It is now on my ‘entertaining list’. It is just divine. By the way, if you aren’t fond of rhubarb or can’t get hold of it, you can use frozen raspberries, which also make this dish a memorable experience. You will need a 34cm stainless-steel or enamelled paella pan for this dish and for maximum flavour, macerate the rhubarb overnight. This will serve 6.

Arroz dulce en paella de leche de carba con ruibarbo y crotin

1 lemon

300g fresh or frozen rhubarb, trimmed, cut into 3cm lengths

100g caster sugar

750ml goat’s milk

2 teaspoons sultanas

150g short-grain rice

100g fresh goat’s cheese

Preserved or morello cherries, to serve

Using a vegetable peeler, peel lemon in long strips without including any white pith. Place in a bowl with the rhubarb and sugar, and stir to combine. Leave for 6 hours or overnight, stirring occasionally. The sugar will draw moisture from the rhubarb and make a syrup.

Remove zest from the syrup and place in paella pan with the goat’s milk and sultanas, and bring almost to the boil. Reduce heat to low, then add rice, stir and spread evenly. Cook for 20 minutes, taking care not to let it boil.

Crumble over the goat’s cheese and gently stir for 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove rhubarb from syrup, reserving syrup, and add to rice and gently stir to combine. Cook for a further 20 minutes or until rice is almost al dente, then stir in reserved syrup and cook for a further 5 minutes and until al dente.

Remove from the pan and cool slightly. Remove and discard lemon zest. Cover the surface of the paella with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve with preserved or morello cherries.