evelyn's arroz con gandules

This is my absolute favorite dish that my Mom makes…I mean I have a lot but this is my favorite.

Every Thanksgiving & Christmas she makes a big pot! Well, lets be real..I’ve half Puerto Rican so we have rice with almost every meal but arroz con gandules is extra special around the holidays. When I was younger (aka as of two years ago lol) whenever she made it, the entire house would smell like sofrito and it smelled amazing. Whenever it was done, she always pulled out a small white ramekin for me and gave me the first scoop…even though she always said “no Al, you can’t have any just wait for dinner”, but she always gave me that little white ramekin.

I know every child has their favorite dish their mom makes and this is definitely mine. I hope you make it and feel a little bit of love from my mom…I legit teared up typing this lol

Happy cooking!

Ingredients

• 1 cilantro bunch

• 1 red pepper

• 1 green pepper

• 1 cubanelle pepper

• 3 garlic cloves

• 1 medium yellow onion

• 1 cup white rice (uncooked)

• 1 15oz can of green pigeon peas

• 1 tablespoon sazon

• 1 bay leave

• 2-3 links of chorizo (optional)

• salt & pepper

• olive oil

• Directions

• Sofrito: Roughly chop the onion, red pepper, green pepper, cubanelle pepper. Add everything to a blender with cilantro brunch & garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and some salt pepper. Set aside

• In a deep pot on medium heat with a little olive oil add the chorizo (not in the sack) and cook until done. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of sofrito, stir to combine.

• Add 1 cup of rice & 1 tablespoon or so of sazon, stir to combine and let "toast" for 2 minutes.

• Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil on high heat. Be sure to taste for salt & add the bay leave.

• Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cover the pot. Let cook for 20 minutes.

ENJOY!