Italian Rice Food

ITALIAN RICE WITH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Heat the oil in a large, shallow ovenproof pan, add the chicken and cook for 3-4 mins until golden all over. Remove from pan and set aside.
• Add the onion and peppers, and cook for 3 mins or until lightly golden. Tip in the garlic and fry for a min. Stir in the rice, then the tomatoes, stock and reserved chicken. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil before transferring to the oven to cook, uncovered, for 20 mins. Season to taste and drizzle over the pesto before serving.

ITALIAN RICE

Steps:

• In a large nonstick skillet, saute garlic in oil for 1 minute. Stir in spinach. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes or until tender; drain well. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper. Stir in the rice and red peppers until combined. Cook and stir until heated through.

SIMMERED ITALIAN RICE

Steps:

• Heat the broth and Italian seasoning in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat to a boil.
• Stir the rice and spinach in the saucepan. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender. Stir in the cheese. Serve with additional cheese.

ITALIAN RICE BALLS

Steps:

• In a bowl whisk together the eggs, Parmesan cheese, basil or parsley (I prefer basil), pepper, and salt; cover and refrigerate.
• Pour the chicken broth (or water and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt) into a large saucepan and bring to a boil; stir in the rice, cover and reduce the heat to low.
• Cook the rice until liquid is almost absorbed, about 15 to 17 minutes.
• Remove from heat and gradually pour in egg mixture, continually stirring rapidly to coat the surface of the rice and prevent the egg from scrambling; allow rice mixture to cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Pour bread crumbs into a shallow dish.
• Dampen your hands with water and create 1-inch balls from the rice mixture, then coat each one with bread crumbs.
• In a small, deep skillet, heat enough oil to cover the rice balls to an adequate frying temperature (350 degrees F) so that a piece of rice from the mixture actively sizzles when dropped in; alternately, a deep fryer may be used.
• Fry the rice balls 4 to 6 at a time, turning as needed to ensure even browning.
• Drain on paper towels, then serve warm as is or with a bit of marinara sauce.
• Another nice touch you can use with these is to put a small cube of mozzarella cheese in the middle of each rice ball!

ITALIAN RICE PIE (PASTIERA DI RISO)

Steps:

• Make pastry dough:
• Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Add eggs and pulse until just incorporated and dough begins to form large clumps.
• Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide into 6 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, using a pastry scraper if you have one, and form into a thick log. Cut off 2/3 of the log and form into a large rectangle for the bottom of the pie. Form the remaining piece into a smaller rectangle for the top of the pie. Chill each, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 30 minutes.
• Make filling:
• Bring rice and well-salted water to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Drain in a sieve and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain well.
• Whisk together 3 yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl, then whisk in cornstarch and flour until smooth (mixture will be very thick). Bring milk just to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, then gradually add hot milk to yolk mixture, whisking.
• Pour custard back into saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat, whisking constantly (custard will become very thick), then boil, whisking, 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with wax paper, until cold, about 2 hours.
• Stir together ricotta, custard, and remaining 2 yolks, then stir in zests, cinnamon, salt, and cooked rice.
• Assemble and bake pie:
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter a 13- by 9-inch metal baking pan and line the bottom with an overlapping double layer of foil, leaving 2 inches of overhang on both ends, then generously butter foil.
• Roll out 1 piece of dough between 2 sheets of wax paper into a 15- by 11-inch rectangle (about 1/8 inch thick). If dough becomes soft, chill or freeze until firm. Remove top sheet of wax paper and invert into baking pan, fitting it into pan. Chill shell. Roll out remaining piece of dough between sheets of wax paper in same manner. Cut 12 (3/4-inch-wide) crosswise strips (you will have a little dough left over).
• Spread filling in pan and arrange 6 strips, 1 1/4 inches apart, diagonally across filling, trimming ends to fit. Arrange remaining 6 strips, 1 1/4 inches apart, diagonally across first strips to form a lattice with diamond-shaped spaces. Trim lattice to fit in pan, then fold outside crust down over filling to make a border. Brush pastry with beaten egg.
• Bake pie until pastry is golden and filling is puffed and set, about 1 1/2 hours, loosely covering top of pie with foil after 50 minutes to prevent over-browning. Transfer to a rack to cool. When completely cool, lift pie out of pan using foil overhang and transfer to a platter.

ITALIAN RICE PIE

Steps:

• Read through all directions before starting!
• In a large bowl, add the sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, lemon zest, and cubed butter. Using your hands, cut/squeeze the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse sand
• In another bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and then pour into the dry sandlike mixture and stir until all of the egg has been incorporated
• Press down and form into a dough and then turn out onto counter and knead a few times until there are no dry bits remaining.
• Form into 2 flat disk shapes, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour (this makes enough for 2 pies, so you can opt to use the extra to decorate the top, or save for another pie).
• I like a thicker crust so I split the dough unevenly; that is, I use about 60% for the bottom and 40% for the top crust - no need to be too accurate just "eyeball" it when you divide the dough.
• Butter and flour an 8-inch pan. After the dough has chilled, roll it into a circle that is about 12 to 13 inches wide and then carefully transfer it over to the prepared pan and line it with the dough. Use PLENTY of flour under and on top of dough before and while rolling and also on your rolling pin. Return dough to fridge if it gets too warm or sticky.
• If the dough falls apart you can simply pinch it back together in the pan. Use plenty of flour on both sides of the dough when you are rolling out the dough to prevent sticking
• After you line the pan with the dough, you can freeze the pan with crust for an hour or so or place in fridge for at least an hour or overnight. This helps to prevent shrinkage.
• If you want to top the pie with pie crust lattice, roll out the crust using plenty of flour on both sides and the rolling pin, and cut into strips. Place strips on baking sheet or dish and chill until ready to use.
• Begin by adding the rice, milk, and lemon peel to a gentle boil over medium low heat. You MUST stir often or the mixture will definitely stick to the bottom of the pan!!
• After the rice has begun to slightly bubble, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until most of the milk has absorbed (it's okay if rice is a bit undercooked as it will keep cooking in the oven). Set aside to cool
• You can also bring to small gentle boil for 2 or 3 minutes, cover, and then remove from heat and let the rice absorb all the liquid for about 30 minutes or so.
• In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, sugar, eggs, grated lemon zest, and vanilla extract and beat until creamy (I mixed by hand using a whisk)
• Once the rice mixture is cooled (to the point where it won't cook the egg in the ricotta mixture), add it to the ricotta mixture and stir to combine.
• Use the prepared pie shell from earlier step and price the dough several times all over with a fork
• Pour the rice-ricotta filling mixture into the pie shell
• If using top crust, top with second pie crust or the lattice strips and top the pie. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle sugar.
• Place the pie on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F on the center rack until the filling is set (about 50 to 60 minutes).
• Check the pie about 20 minutes and 10 minutes before finished and if crust is browning too much, place a piece of aluminum foil over the top very loosely.
• Once pie is cooled, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.
• Cool pie completely before eating and store in the refrigerator. Pie is best enjoyed at room temperature (otherwise, rice tends to harden too much).

ITALIAN RICE AND PEAS

Steps:

• Melt 2 oz of butter in a saucepan.
• Add chopped onion and celery, cook until just translucent.
• Add rice, cook a few minutes more, stirring to coat the rice with butter.
• Add wine, 1 cup of boiling water and crumbled stock cubes.
• Bring to a boil, add peas.
• Reduce heat, simmer uncovered until the water has evaporated.
• Add another cup of boiling water, cook until evaporated.
• Add the final cup of boiling water.
• Keep cooking until the water is almost absorbed.
• Overall cooking time is about 20 minutes.
• Stir in the Parmesan cheese and 1 oz butter.
• Add salt& pepper to taste.

ARANCINI DI RISO: SICILIAN RICE BALLS

Steps:

• Make the risotto by adding the rice to the heated oil in a large saute pan, and stirring quickly for one or two minutes. Quickly add the white wine while stirring. With the heat on medium high, begin adding the chicken stock a little at a time, and continuously stirring, until all the stock has been used and the rice is cooked, yet still al dente (I have a risotto recipe here on my blog). Taste; adding salt if necessary. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• Add an egg to the risotto and mix well, then refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight.
• To make the arancini:
• Place some rice in your hand and flatten it into your cupped hand, but don't make it too thin, or the filling will ooze out. Place a piece of mozzarella, and/or a little tomato sauce (and peas, if using) in the center of the cupped rice. Next, close the rice around the filling and shape into a ball.
• If you'd like to make conical shapes, flatten the bottom of the ball, and make the top more pointed.
• Now, roll the shaped arancini in flour, then roll them in the beaten egg, and finally the breadcrumbs. Set aside until all of the rice has been used.
• Heat some oil in a deep fryer, pot or wok until it is very hot. Add the arancini, and cook quickly, turning often so they don't brown too much on one side. If serving immediately, fry for a few minutes, so the cheese will melt in the center. Remove from oil and place on paper towel lined plate or tray. (If you'd like to serve them at a later time, remove them quickly after just browning; then, just before serving, place them on a baking sheet and re-heat in the oven at 400ºF for 5 to 10 minutes.)
• Serve plain, or place on tray with a little tomato sauce and garnish with basil. You can also serve them with a little extra sauce on the side, although this isn't done in Italy.

ITALIAN STYLE RICE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400F/200C. Toss the eggplant cubes, zucchini, pepper, chopped onion, and tomato with the oil, in a roasting pan and season with salt and pepper.
• Roast for 15 - 25 minutes (until the vegetables are fully cooked)
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan add the garlic and cook it starts to brown.
• Mix in the tomatoes, oregano, stock, and seasoning. Add the rice and bring to boil. Lower the heat to low heat, cover and simmer 15 -20 minutes until the rice is tender.
• Add the roasted vegetables and parsley. Taste for seasoning and serve.

ITALIAN CHICKEN AND RICE

Steps:

• Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken; cook and stir until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
• Add vegetables; cook and stir 3 to 5 min. or until crisp-tender. Stir in broth. Bring to boil.
• Stir in rice, dressing and cheese; cover. Reduce heat to low. Cook 5 min. or until liquid is absorbed and chicken is cooked through.

ITALIAN RICE BALLS

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and saute the garlic and onions until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the meat and cook until browned, breaking up large pieces as it cooks. Strain off excess fat from the skillet. Add the parsley and cook, about 3 minutes. Add the thyme, oregano, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, cayenne and red pepper flakes. Taste and add more seasoning if needed. Keep in mind that rice and cheese contain salt so be careful not to over salt the meat mixture. Let the meat mixture cool a bit. Add the tomato sauce. Combine the rice with the cheese but be careful not to mash the rice. Add the rice mixture to the meat mixture and stir gently to combine. Check the seasonings. Add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a small to medium ice cream scoop (number 10) to shape the balls so they are a consistent size, and then hand roll the balls as tightly as you can.
• Pour enough canola oil into a deep skillet or Dutch oven to reach 5 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F; use a deep-fry thermometer to check the oil temperature.
• Whisk the eggs in a small baking dish. Place the breadcrumbs in another baking dish. Roll the rice balls lightly in the eggs and then immediately roll in the breadcrumbs to form a coating. Shake off the excess breadcrumbs. Place them on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate or freeze until you are ready to fry.
• To fry, carefully drop the rice balls into the hot oil, a few at a time, taking care not to overcrowd and lower the oil temperature. Cook until golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes per batch. Bring the oil back up to 350 degrees F before cooking each batch. Drain the rice balls on paper towels before serving.
• Serve with Marinara Sauce for dipping. Garnish with the basil.
• This recipe was created by a contestant during a cooking competition. The Food Network Kitchens have not tested it for home use, therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.
• Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a large pot. Add the onions and cook until translucent and softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Use some of the liquid from the tomatoes to deglaze the pan, and then add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Use an immersion blender to puree, taking care to leave the tomatoes slightly chunky. (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can add everything to a blender or food processor.)
• Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to keep from burning on the bottom. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 hour or longer so that the marinara thickens as some of the liquid cooks out. Check seasoning prior to serving. Add salt as necessary.