"This was one of our earliest recipes for the Shoreditch restaurant. We started out with only rice dishes made with fish and then felt that, especially in winter, people would also like the choice of some more hearty, sustaining dishes, with a generous dose of pork-and this one, created by our head chef, Nico Modad, is exceptional. Preferably make it with Ibérico pork ribs, but otherwise use the best ribs you can find that have tasty nuggets of meat on them. In the finished dish they will emerge from the rice a bit like the circle at Stonehenge."

METHOD

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a 38cm paella pan, tilting the pan to ensure the oil covers the surface as far as possible, put in the ribs and brown them on all sides, then lift them out and keep to one side.
2. Add 3 more tablespoons of olive oil to the pan, and, keeping it on a low heat, add the onions and garlic and cook gently until the onion is translucent. Add the red pepper and stir and coat well in the oil, adding another tablespoon if necessary, then season with a pinch of salt and cook very gently for 10 minutes.
3. Add a quarter of the morcilla, along with the thyme, and continue to cook gently for a further 10 minutes. Add the reserved ribs and stir and coat them in the ingredients in the pan for about 4 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6.
5. Add the tomatoes, stir well and bring to the boil, then taste and if necessary add 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes. Turn the heat down and simmer for another 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens to the consistency of a runny jam.
6. Add the rice and stir until the grains are well coated. Stir in 2 ladlefuls of the hot stock and the paprika, then ladle in around 1 litre of the stock in a circular motion until it reaches just below the handle studs. Bring the stock to a fast boil, taste the liquid and adjust for salt if necessary. After 5 minutes push the reserved ribs into the paella and lower the heat to a simmer for another 5 minutes.
7. Arrange the remaining morcilla on the rice in a decorative pattern, then add another ladleful of stock, sprinkling it in as before, in a circular motion, working in from the edges of the pan.
8. Simmer for a further 2 minutes – the morcilla will begin to break up – then transfer to the preheated oven for a final 4 minutes. During this time the morcilla will cook through, and any excess stock should have reduced, leaving the rice moist and dark and the top slightly crisped.
9. Remove from the oven and gently stir the morcilla through the rice before serving.