Olleta alicantina: traditional recipe

Olleta alicantina is one of the most typical spoon dishes from the province of Alicante. It is a traditional dish of a humble origin whose recipe has as many variants as families and villages that make it. Its name comes from the earthenware dish it is cooked in. What this traditional dish must contain is beans, lentils and rice, although in some places they add tender wheat instead of rice. 

Fundamentally, olleta alicantina is made with pulses and vegetables, so it is suitable for vegetarians and vegans, but in some cases meat, ribs and bacon are added to give it more flavour. The most important thing when it comes to making olleta alicantina is cooking it on a low heat, as people used to do, and adapt its ingredients to the seasonal vegetables you can find.

It is a perfect recipe to combat the cold. It is a hearty dish, but very complete on a nutritional level and one of the best excuses to get the family together around this succulent stew.

Recipe for Olleta alicantina without meat (for 4 or 5 people)

As we have already mentioned, the recipe can be adapted to the vegetables and pulses you have at home. You can replace the chard with spinach, turnip for parsnip or remove some of the pulses.

Ingredientes:

- 70 g of white beans
- 70 g of pinto beans
- 50 g of lentils
- 100 g of chickpeas
- 200 g of rice
- 1 handful of chard
- 1 piece of pumpkin (250 g)
- A few stalks
- 1 turnip
- 3 or 4 potatoes
- 1 onion
- Virgen extra olive oil
- Sweet paprika
- Salt
- 1 ñora (sweet red pepper)
- 1.3 litres of water

Method:

1. Place the white beans and pinto beans, chickpeas and lentils to soak the night before with a pinch of salt.

2. Chop the onion, grate the tomato and sauté them in the pan with olive oil and a bit of sweet paprika. When the onion is soft, add the ground ñora (sweet red pepper), stir it around until it mixes in with the sauce and add the water.

3. Add the pulses that you soaked the night before to the stew along with the pumpkin and turnip. Place the lid on the pan and when it starts to boil, lower the heat and time it for approximately one hour.

4. Peel the potatoes and chop the chard. Add them together with the stalks 30 minutes after the stew starts to boil.

5. The olleta should be of a thick consistency. If the stock is too thick, you can add water and leave it to simmer for longer before adding the rice which will take around 17 minutes. Once the rice is cooked, the olla alicantina is ready to eat.

You can make a quicker version of olleta alicantina using pre-cooked pulses from a jar and cooking all of the ingredients in a pressure cooker or even use a food processor.