Italian Baked Rice And Cheese Recipes

RISO AL FORNO (ITALIAN BAKED RICE)

Steps:

• Mix Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and bread crumbs together in a bowl; set aside.
• Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add passata, vegetable broth, peas, basil, oregano, thyme, garlic, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. Add rice; mix well. Cover and simmer, adding a bit of water if necessary to keep rice from sticking to the bottom, until tender, about 18 minutes.
• While the rice is cooking, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Remove the Dutch oven from the stove and gently stir in provolone cheese. Sprinkle reserved bread crumb mixture on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until bubbly and browned on top, about 15 minutes.

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.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE RICE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• In a small skillet, cook the sausage, onion and red pepper over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink; drain. Remove from the heat. Stir in the rice, basil, soup, water and 1/4 cup cheese., Transfer to an ungreased 3-cup baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until rice is tender. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

ITALIAN RICE BALLS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cheese, parsley, pepper, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and refrigerate.
• Pour water and 1 teaspoon salt into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in rice and reduce heat to low. Cook rice until water is almost absorbed, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and slowly pour in egg mixture, stirring rapidly to prevent egg from scrambling. Allow rice mixture to cool for 1 hour.
• Pour bread crumbs into a pile on one end of a cutting board. Dampen hands and roll rice mixture into 1 inch balls, then coat each one with bread crumbs.
• In a small, deep skillet, heat olive oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). (Should have enough oil to completely cover rice balls.) Fry rice balls 6 at a time, turning as needed to ensure even browning. Drain on paper towels and serve warm.

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 BAKED RICE AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Set oven to 400 degrees.
• Butter a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
• In a large bowl, combine ALL ingredients EXCEPT the cheddar, Romano OR Parmesan cheese and the whipping cream; mix well to combine all ingredients.
• Transfer to a prepared baking dish.
• Cover with foil, crimping the foil very tightly to edges of dish not to let any steam escape.
• Bake for 1 hour (stirring at the end of 30 minutes).
• Remove from oven and stir in the cheeses and the whipping cream.
• Return to oven; continue to bake for 10 minutes longer.
• Note: although I have never tryed it, I presume that half and half cream may be replaced for the whipping cream.

BAKED RICE WITH CHEESE AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a casserole melt butter and sautee onions and garlic until soft.
• Stir in the tomatoes, rice, salt, thyme and bay leaf, blending well.
• Pour in the chicken broth, stirring.
• Cover casserole, bring to a boil, and place in pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
• Remove cover, discard bay leaf, stir in two cheeses, and heat in the oven for 2 minutes.

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.