Recipe Oven-Baked Rice with Aubergine and Mozzarella

[MypinchofItaly]

To prepare this baked rice I have substituted the ragout sauce with a simpler aubergine and fresh tomatoes sauce, which makes the preparation lighter and suitable for a vegetarian diet


Serves: 4 | Preparation time: 20 mins | Cooking time: 1 h

• Carnaroli rice: 400 g
• Mozzarella: 125 g
• Tomato sauce: 80 g
• Parmesan, grated: 50 g
• Pecorino, grated: 50 g
• Aubergines: 1
• Onions, white: 1
• Tomatoes: 4
• Basil, fresh: 6 leaves
• Garlic: 1 clove
• Extra virgin olive oil: 3 tbsp
• Breadcrumbs: as needed
• Salt and pepper: to taste

Method

Tip: Make sure to select only ripen, sweet tomatoes.

Dice the aubergine, the tomatoes and the mozzarella into small cubes. Finely chop the onion. Peel the garlic.

Heat up the oil in a pan and brown the the garlic and the onion. Add the aubergines and cook it over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Tip: If the aubergine looks is a bit dry, add some water – but without exaggerating!

Add the tomatoes and the basil leaves to the aubergine and pour the tomato sauce into the pan. Season to taste, stir thoroughly and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the rice and a teaspoon of salt. Stir the rice, lower the heat and cook for 13 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the rice has cooked through, drain it and add it to the aubergine sauce. Sauté the rice and the sauce for a few minutes. Add about ⅔ of the parmesan and pecorino.

Grease the inside of a casserole dish with a bit of olive oil. Cover the bottom with breadcrumbs. Create a layer of rice, pressing it to the bottom with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle on top some mozzarella, parmesan and pecorino, then cover everything with another layer of rice. Proceed in this fashion until all the ingredients are used up.

Garnish the top layer with some ollive oil and some breadcrumbs. Bake at 200°C for 30 minutes.

Let the baked rice cool a little before serving it.

 

[Morning Glory]

Very pretty! An economical dish too.

N.B that Parmesan is not suitable for vegetarians. Not sure about Pecorino. But both could be substituted.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

Very pretty! An economical dish too.

N.B that Parmesan is not suitable for vegetarians. Not sure about Pecorino. But both could be substituted.

It depends on the vegetarians
Many vegetarians people I know eat any kind of cheese
The reference to vegetarians is about no meat involved

 

[Morning Glory]

Many vegetarians people I know eat any kind of cheese
The reference to vegetarians is about no meat involved

OK - it was on my mind a bit because of the recent Vegetarian Cheese discussion. I think there are some folk who consider themselves vegetarian and may be unaware that animal rennet (obtained from slaughtered calves) is used to make some cheeses. There are certainly plenty of non-vegetarians who don't realise this!