Arròs al forn — Spain

Arròs al forn is a baked rice dish associated with Spain, most closely linked to the Valencian Community, where oven-cooked rice dishes form a wide family alongside paella. Unlike paella, this version leaves the flat pan behind for a deep earthenware dish that goes straight into the oven, producing a drier, more compact rice with a crisp top layer. The dish is reported from home kitchens and neighborhood bakeries across Valencia and Alicante, where families would once carry the prepared dish to the communal wood oven to be baked alongside the day's bread. It remains a Sunday and leftover-friendly meal, often built around whatever meat and pulses are on hand. Preparation starts with browning pork ribs and pieces of blood sausage in olive oil inside the same dish the rice will bake in. Sliced potatoes and cooked chickpeas are layered in, followed by tomato slices and a whole head of garlic pressed into the center. Saffron or sweet paprika colors the stock that is poured over everything before the rice is scattered on top and the dish goes into a hot oven, undisturbed, until the grains are tender and lightly crusted. What distinguishes this version from other baked rice dishes of the same family is the earthenware vessel itself, which concentrates heat differently from a metal pan, and the whole garlic head, which is squeezed over the rice at the table rather than cooked into the mixture. Chickpeas and blood sausage are common in this rendition, though households vary the meats and pulses according to what is available.