Mediterranean Rice

Ingredients

  • olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 red onion, sliced
  • 15g mixed bunch of soft herbs, such as oregano, marjoram, thyme, sage thyme
  • 150g basmati rice
  • 1 organic vegetable stock cube
  • 2 medium mixed-colour courgettes
  • 3 ripe large mixed-colour tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons pesto
  • 70g Feta/mozzarella
  • 1.5 tbsp black olive tapenade

SALSA

  • ½ a small red onion
  • 2 ripe tomatoes
  • 1 fresh red chilli
  • ½ a bunch of basil (15g)
  • red wine vinegar

Method

Heat the pressure cooker with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and ad the sliced onion. Slice and add the garlic and add in the herb leaves, stirring occasionally.

Tip in the 150g of rice and cook in the onion and garlic until translucent. Season with black pepper, crumble in the stock cube, then pour in the same quantity of water (as rice in a mug), then additionally, up to third line from bottom on mug with boiling kettle water and give everything a good stir. Note: Generally it is twice the volume of water to the rice when cooking, but if using a pressure cooker it can be different.

Cover and bring up to pressure and cook for 9 minutes, remove from heat and let the pressure release naturally.

Finely slice the courgettes and tomatoes, then season and drizzle with olive oil.

Once cooked, add the rice to the Remoska and randomly bomb the pesto over the rice, then start layering up your veg: cover the rice with the courgette slices, going in a circle around the edge and overlapping them as you go, followed by a layer of tomatoes, moving slightly nearer the middle each time until you’ve covered the whole surface.

Bake in the Remoska for 45 minutes, or until beautifully golden and crisp at the edges. NOTE: If you have a grill, you can also just place the pan under the grill on medium heat and cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until golden.

For the salsa, peel and slice the onion and tomatoes, finely chop the chilli (deseed if you like), and pick over most of the basil leaves, then finely chop and mix everything together. Drizzle over 1½ tablespoons of red wine vinegar, then scrape into a small bowl.

When the time’s up on the grill, remove the pan to a high heat on the hob and cook for a few minutes to crisp up the bottom – once you hear it start to crackle, it’s done.

Tear over the mozzarella/crumble the feta and spoon over the olive tapenade, then divide between plates, topping each portion with a spoon of fresh salsa and a few of the remaining basil leaves.

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