The recipe for this rice with arugula pesto is now an ‘ancient’… recipe. 😀
It’s been so long since I suggested to Barbara in a conversation on my Facebook page this very simple way to use arugula pesto. And she immediately sent me the photo of her rice with arugula pesto prepared for Sunday lunch, a photo that you can see on the page My recipes made by you, a page I care about very much where I collect all the photos you send me. 🙂
Finally, after almost two years, I decided to bring this recipe to life!
It’s disarmingly simple, and precisely for this reason it deserves to be shared, don’t you agree? So even those who don’t want to try their hand at cooking, or baking, will have no more excuses!
And then it’s a recipe that can be modified to your liking, you can replace the arugula pesto with basil pesto or other pesto, for example, this one with baby lettuce or this one with carrot tops, or you can use only Parmesan on top and no cheese for those who need a lighter version.
In the end, what makes a difference is the baking. Trivial? Maybe. But what matters is that we like it, this rice with arugula pesto baked! And that even some picky kids (two at random!) who say “rice, not so much”, eat it this way and even ask for seconds! 😉
Enjoy!
〰〰〰
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups Rice
- 1.75 oz Arugula
- 0.7 oz Basil
- 0.7 oz Parsley
- 5 Walnuts
- 1 tbsp Pine Nuts
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1 tbsp Yogurt (or milk kefir)
- 1 tbsp Ricotta
- to taste Pepper
- to taste Extra virgin olive oil
- to taste Grated cheese (optional)
Tools
- Chopper
- Baking Dish
Preparation
Cook the rice in plenty of water.
While the rice is cooking, prepare the arugula pesto.
You can follow the recipe found HERE where I have just added the photo of the pesto for this recipe. I slightly modified it from the recipe (but… I modify it every time! It’s hard to make it the same way every time!), in any case, I’ll explain again here how to prepare this excellent arugula pesto:
Wash the arugula, basil, and parsley and blend all the ingredients (walnuts and pine nuts, ricotta, yogurt, and garlic) in a small food processor. Add the oil gradually, possibly replacing some with water (a couple of tablespoons) to make the pesto lighter.
A habit I’ve had for a long time, this substitution of some oil with water, which I apply in all my pestos.
Regarding the amount of oil, I didn’t specify it for a simple reason: I eyeballed it! That’s how I always make pesto, with little oil at first, then adjust accordingly when seasoning 😉
The result you will get is what you see in the photo:
Once the rice is cooked, drain it and season it with the pesto, flavor with a pinch (or two or three 😉 ) of pepper, then pour it into a baking dish and compact it gently with the back of a spoon.
Add a drizzle of oil on top and a sprinkle of Parmesan or other grated cheese.
Or enrich it, as I did this time, with cubes of cheese. I used fontal, but masdam, gouda, or whatever you like best is also fine 🙂
Put in the oven at 392 degrees Fahrenheit and gratinate for 10-15 minutes.
As you can see from the following photo, I didn’t let it brown too much this time, I just softened the cheese. Requests from kids must always be granted! 😀
Enjoy your meal!!!
Advice Without Salt
Ideas to season without salt:
In the pesto: one extra clove of garlic, an extra pinch of pepper, or a bit of chili pepper. For rice: cook it in vegetable broth instead of water 🙂
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Reduce salt gradually, the palate needs to adjust slowly and should not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili pepper, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruit. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granules
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer methods that don’t disperse flavors (griddle, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Occasionally break the rule. It’s good for your mood and helps you persevere.
If you don’t want to, or can’t, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes by salting according to your habits.
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