Mom’s Portuguese Rice

I grew up in a household that was both Italian American and Portuguese American. My mom’s side of the family is Portuguese, and I was lucky enough to eat her delicious Portuguese food throughout my entire childhood. She was not alone; all of my many tias (aunts) were very active in the kitchen, and when the whole family got together, the feasting was unparalleled. (Please don’t tell anyone on the Italian side of my family that I said that, okay?) One of my favorite dishes that Mom made was her Portuguese rice. Variations on this dish exist throughout Portuguese cuisine, and like most things, everyone adds their own special touch. The star ingredient here is linguiça, which is a smoked pork sausage flavored with paprika and garlic. It’s a perfect one-pot situation and very much a “mom” recipe, which is probably why we ate it so often. I recently got together with my mom, and we embarked on the journey of re-creating her Portuguese rice recipe, which, of course, was never written down, like so many of the best recipes. We called a few tias and got their takes on it, and then set a course recipe-testing together. We didn’t stop until we were transported back in time to our kitchen table, enjoying a meal together as a family, my face covered in rice and hers covered in a smile. This recipe was featured on our new cook-along podcast Play Me a Recipe. Listen as Dan Pelosi cooks his way through this recipe, offering insider tips and backstory along the way.

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% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet