Oven Baked Rice

Riso al Forno

 Yesterday, I prepared this dish, simple and healthy. Today, we are eating the leftover. 







Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: about 30 plus 40 minutes, total

Class: economic- healthy

Serves 6-7

Ingredients:

300 g. brown rice

 

400 g. white rice

Water, enough to boil the rice

Salt, about 2 tsp. for the sauce plus enough to boil the rice

2 cans whole peeled tomatoes, approximately 28 oz. (800 g.) each

9 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

Bunch of fresh basil (optional)

2 eggs,

1 cup (250ml) frozen peas

about 1 cup (250ml) freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

about 100g. shredded mozzarella cheese

about 150g. thin slices of dry Italian salame

Method:

1. Boil the rice in salted water, drain and pour into a big bowl.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Blend the tomatoes and set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and sauté. Add the tomatoes and salt; stir well and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens a little. At this point, taste the sauce and add more salt if needed. Then add the basil if you like. Take 2 spoonfuls of sauce and set aside.
4. Add the remaining sauce to the bowl with rice and mix well. Then add the eggs, the peas, the pecorino romano cheese and the mozzarella cheese and mix well.
5. Preheat the oven to 390° F (200° C).
6. Pour half of the rice into the baking dish and use a spatula to distribute it evenly over the surface. Place a layer of salame on top, spread 1 spoonful of tomato sauce over it and then sprinkle 1–2 tbsp. of pecorino romano cheese.
7. Cover with the remaining rice, spread the remaining tomato sauce over the rice, and sprinkle the remaining pecorino romano cheese on top.
8. Bake for 30–40 minutes. Allow to rest at least 30 minutes before serving.

Tomato Sauce

Salsa al Pomodoro

Many people ask me how to prepare a tomato sauce. It is so simple that I hadn't thought to publish the recipe, but due to so many requests I think that it is a good idea to post the recipe of a basic tomato sauce.

While in summer we mainly use fresh tomatoes, in the winter we use canned, and we believe that it’s always better to use canned whole tomatoes instead of canned chopped tomatoes or tomato paste. The quality of the whole tomatoes is much higher than the others and also the taste is better. My family and I, like many other Italians, only rarely and only for some specific recipes, use tomato paste or something similar.

Use this sauce for pasta, gnocchi, or meatballs or as you like.

Ingredients:

1 can whole peeled tomatoes, approximately 28 oz. (800 g.)

7 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
Salt, about 1 tsp.
Bunch of fresh basil (optional)

Method:

1. Blend the tomatoes and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and sauté. Add the tomatoes and salt; stir well and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens a little. At this point, taste the sauce and add more salt if needed. Then add the basil if you like.