Oven baked vegetable pilaff

Caroline Marson: Food writer

This is a great recipe for using any leftover vegetables that you have in the fridge. If they have been cooked before they won't need roasting in the oven, simply add them with the rice at step 3. The pilaff can be moulded into little balls, coated in egg and bread crumbs, shallow fried until golden brown and served with a crisp salad. You can make this a meat recipe by adding 8 boned chicken thighs. Pop them onto the rice, season, drizzle with a little olive oil, cover and cook in the oven at stage 2.

Ingredients: serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion (peeled and roughly chopped)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
salt
peppercorns (freshly ground)
250 g mixed vegetables (e.g. red or green peppers, cored and roughly chopped, carrots, peeled and roughly chopped, butternut squash, peeled and roughly chopped)
A little thyme (chopped)
500 ml chicken (or vegetable stock)
75 g hard cheese (grated)
A little parsley (chopped)
200 g long grain rice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Heat the olive oil in a medium ovenproof saucepan or casserole dish and cook the onion and garlic for a few minutes until soft and a little golden. Season with salt and pepper, add the peppers, carrots and butternut squash.
Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden and tender. Remove from the oven and add the rice, chopped thyme and stock, bring to the boil and season to taste.
Cover with the lid and place in the preheated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the rice is just cooked and all the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the grated cheese and chopped parsley just before serving.

Recipe tips:

It's best to serve rice when it has just been cooked. If that isn't possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) and keep it in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating. Never leave cooked rice to cool on its own - always chill it quickly for example under running cold water. If cooked rice had been chilled or frozen ensure that it is thoroughly reheated and is piping hot throughout. Never keep rice chilled for longer than 1 day or frozen for longer than 1 month. Once cooked rice has been re-heated, throw away any leftovers. Never re-heat rice more than once.