Cabrito Assado com Arroz de Enchidos – Roast Kid with Rice

Portuguese Roast Kid with Rice combines a roasted whole leg of goat served with Carolino rice cooked in a broth made from the goat roast, and Portuguese cured sausages. This hearty meal is perfect for the colder months, and it’s usually served during Christmas and Easter festivities. 

I first tried this dish in a restaurant in Lisbon, juicy pieces of roasted goat served over an oven-baked rice with crispy caramelised edges, it had incredible flavour. The menu described it simply as ‘Cabrito com Arroz de Forno’, which is slightly vague since arroz de forno simply means oven baked rice. After some digging, I was able to find Cabrito Assado com Arroz de Enchidos that is Carolino rice combined with Portuguese sausages such as chouriço and paio. The rice is pre-cooked on the stove, then transferred to a baking dish, topped with your roast meat and baked until golden and crispy.

Cabrito Assado com Arroz de Enchidos Recipe

Although eating goat meat might be uncommon in a lot of places, it’s super popular in Portugal, especially around Easter. The Portuguese word cabrito means a young goat of around 15kg. It’s available in most supermarkets and butchers where you can purchase the whole animal, a quarter of it, the legs, or the ribs. For this recipe I recommend using a whole leg with the bone.

This recipe is divided in two parts, in the first part we roast the marinated leg covered with foil in low to medium heat for about 1h30m. Then we prepare the rice, the enchidos I will be using are chorizo, bacon, and paio. We then transfer the rice to a baking dish, and place the goat leg on top of it, drizzling on top any juices left in the tray.

We increase the temperature of the oven and bake it for another 15 minutes until both the goat and the rice are golden and crispy. The juices and fat from the goat flow into the rice creating an indulgent rice that’s crispy on top but very moist on the inside. It’s the perfect dish for the cold months, or if you want to adopt the Portuguese tradition, for Easter or Christmas!

How to Make Portuguese Roast Kid (Goat) with Portuguese Sausages Rice

Ingredients:

For the Kid:

• 1 leg of kid (baby goat) – approx. 1,5kg (bone in)
• 1tbsp lard
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1tsp piri-piri powder
• 1tsp sweet paprika
• 3 garlic cloves – sliced
• ½ cup white wine
• Fresh parsley to taste
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the Rice:

• 750ml beef or chicken stock
• 350g Carolino Rice
• 100g bacon – diced
• 100g chorizo – diced
• 100g paio sausage – diced
• 2 small onions – approx. 200g
• 3 garlic cloves – minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 100ml white wine
• 1tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Cabrito Assado com Arroz de Enchidos – Roast Kid with Rice

Recipe by Ana Veiga

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: MainCuisine: Mediterranean, PortugueseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

2

hours 

15

minutes

Calories

673

kcal

Portuguese Roast Kid with Rice combines a roasted whole leg of goat served with Carolino rice cooked in a broth made from the goat roast, and Portuguese cured sausages.

Ingredients

• 1 Leg Kid (Young Goat)

• 1 tbsp Lard

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil

• 1 tsp Piri-piri Powder

• 1 tsp Sweet Paprika

• 3 Garlic Cloves – Sliced

• 1 cup White Wine

• Fresh Parsley

• 2.5 tsp Salt

• Freshl y Ground Black Pepper

• 750 ml Stock (Chicken or Beef)

• 350 g Carolino Rice

• 100 g Bacon – diced

• 100 g Chorizo – diced

• 100 g Paio Sausage

• 2 Small Onions

• 3 Garlic cloves – Minced

• 2 Bay Leaves

Directions

• Start by combining the lard, olive oil, piri-piri powder, paprika, garlic cloves,salt and pepper in a small bowl, then rub it evenly over the meat.
  
• Place the meat in a sealable bag, add the wine, allow it to marinade overnight in the refrigerator.
• Remove the meat from the fridge 40 minutes in advance, in the meantime heat your oven to 180°C.
  
•  Place the meat in a baking tray with the marinade liquids, seal with foil, then bake it for approximately 2h. Check your goat halfway through, if too much liquid has evaporated add more wine or water.
  
• While the goat cooks, prepare your rice. Start by dicing your bacon, chorizo and paio. Add them to a skillet with the olive oil. Fry for about 5 minutes until golden.
  
• Dice the onions, add them to the skillet, allow them to fry for 2 minutes with the sausages before adding your minced garlic cloves and bay leaves. Cook for another minute until fragrant.
  
• Add in the rice, fry for another 2 minutes before deglazing with the white wine. Once the alcohol evaporates, add the stock. Season with the salt and a scrunch of black pepper. Cover with a lid, then cook undisturbed for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a baking tray that’s large enough to accommodate the goat as well. The rice layer should be about 5cm tall.
  
• Once the goat has finished cooking, place it on top of the rice, drizzling it with any remaining juices from the tray. Bake it for about 15 minutes at 200°C for about 15 minutes or until both the goat and the rice are golden brown.
  
• Carve your meat, serve it with the rice and some freshly chopped parsley.
  

Notes

• You will need to marinade your goat for at least 8 hours, so plan in advance!
  

Have you tried this recipe? Let me know in the comments! If you are looking for more traditional Portuguese recipes with goat, maybe you should give this Roast Kid with Potatoes a go!