"The secret to really good black rice is plenty of fresh ink... and use bomba rice - one of Spain's finest. It absorbs the stock so the rice becomes a flavourful, juicy foundation of your arroz negro." - Nieves Barragán Mohacho

Ingredients

220g squid, diced
3 tbsp olive oil
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
350ml manzanilla sherry
2 shallots, peeled and finely diced
1l fish stock
350 bomba or Arborio rice
8 sachets squid ink
1 large knob of butter
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

• Dice the prepared squid. Heat some olive oil in a large, heavy based frying pan and fry the squid until golden and all the liquid has evaporated. Add spring onions, the sherry and let bubble until the sherry is totally reduced. Remove from pan and set aside.

• Heat some more olive oil in the pan and gently fry the shallots until softened and golden. Meanwhile, bring the stock to simmer. Add the rice to the shallots, then pour the rest of the sherry over the rice and stir to deglaze. Add a couple of ladlefuls of stock and cook, stirring every so often, until the liquid is absorbed. Continue to add stock in this way until the rice is nearly cooked.

• Now add the squid ink to the rice, with a little more stock if necessary and stir well. At this stage the rice should be perfectly cooked. Add the precooked diced squid and stir a large knob of butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chef Recomendations

Tip: Serve the rice in warm bowls, drizzled with olive oil and garnished with pan-fried squid.

Wine match: N.V. Pastrana, Manzanilla Pasada, Hidalgo, Spain.