This is a Yottam Ottalenghi recipe. Straight up, barely tinkered with. But I am terrified it will disappear from the internet and it is really, really good. So I am preserving it here.
Ingredients
- 400 g short-grain brown rice
- 500 ml stock, chicken or vegetable
- 1 large dried chilli, Yottam said ancho, I used chipotle
- olive oil
- 1/2 brown onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
- 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
- 1 lemon, finely peeled and juiced
- salt and pepper
- 6 romano peppers, seeds and piths removed, cut into 1 cm x 8 cm strips (or you can use ordinary red capsicum peppers)
- 1 tbsp honey
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 200 g jar of artichokes hearts in oil, drained and cut in half lengthways
- 2 chorizo sausages, cut into chunks (optional)
To serve
- 3 tbsp flaked almonds, lightly toasted
- handful parsley, roughly chopped
- 1 lemon, cut into quarters
Method
Heat the oven to 210 deg C.
Warm the stock of your choice over a medium heat for three minutes. Add the chilli and allow it to soak for half an hour, then remove, chop finely and add back to the stock.
Find yourself a large, high-sided frypan with a lid (a dutch oven, or even a paella dish if you happen to own one). Heat 2 tbsp olive oil over a medium-high heat, and add the onion, cumin and caraway seeds, lemon peel and a heaped teaspoon of salt. Fry, stirring, for 4 minutes or until the onion is soft and golden. Add the rice and stir to combine, then pour in the stock and 1.1 litres of water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat to medium-low, pop on a lid and leave it simmer, stirring now and then, till the rice is cooked. Yottam suggested this would take 70 minutes. I have no idea what kind of rice he used, because my brown rice only took a little over 40 minutes. So be prepared, that’s all I can say…
So get onto the veggie preparation! In a large bowl, toss the pepper strips in the honey, 3 tbsp olive oil, thyme sprigs, and salt and pepper to your liking. Line a baking tray with baking paper and layer the peppers on it. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven.
Change the oven setting to grill, and raise the temperature to 220 deg C. Layer the artichokes, and the chorizo if using, over the peppers and return the tray to the oven. Grill for 10-12 minutes until the artichokes (and chorizo) are browned and slightly crispy.
When the rice is cooked, stir in roughly two thirds of the veggies (after discarding the thyme if you can). Layer the final third of the veggies attractively on top, drizzle with the lemon juice, scatter with nuts and parsley and serve. With joy. And pride.
Serves 4 hungry people. Or six if you are also dishing up BBQ Chicken with a Portuguese Accent. Which I would advise…