Jul 10th, 2015

Author: donich_admin

Moroccan Rice Casserole

I made this for my parents the other day – I put chicken in it for them as I am not sure my father entirely gets the concept of vegetarian food – but without it, the dish is vegan and just as nice….

Heat oven to 180C. Fry two large roughly chopped onions and two green or yellow peppers in olive oil. While these are getting nicely brown and a bit crisp – cook about 6oz brown basmati rice until nearly but not quite cooked through (about 15 mins and then drain). If you are organized, you have soaked six ounces of dried chickpeas overnight and then boiled them for about half an hour until soft – if you are not – use the canned ones. Mix 4 fluid oz of veg stock with a good glass of dry white wine and mix in some (one standard supermarket jar) saffron, 1 tsp ras al hanout (don’t overdo this or it will swamp the saffron) and juice of one lemon. In a large oven proof casserole, mix the drained rice and chickpeas. Roughly slice lots of green and black pitted olives and add to pulses, add the onion/pepper mixture, season well, and finally pour over the liquid. Stir well. The mixture should be moist with a bit of visible liquid but not swimming wet. Cover tightly and put in the oven. After about 20 minutes give it a stir – if the rice is cooked through and it is steaming hot, it is ready – otherwise give it another ten minutes.

Serve with garlic flatbreads, humus and tzatziki – yum yum. Actually – this is a genuine 45 minute meal – a lot quicker to make than some of Jamie’s thirty minute efforts.