Rice Pilaf
- Serves: 6 – 8 as a side dish
- Preparation Time: 10 minutes
- Total Cooking time: 35 minutes
Long a staple of Persian and Middle Eastern cooking, pilaf is a delicious side dish that unfortunately has acquired a thankless reputation and become overlooked thanks to its prominence as a boxed dinner. Pilaf can be so much more than the salty and gummy dish most people have come to know and in actuality takes no more time to make from scratch than it does to follow the directions on the box. Try this with grilled chicken breasts or as a light side dish alternative to potatoes or steamed rice.
| Amount | Measure | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | cups | white rice |
| 1 – 2 | cups | vermicelli pasta broken into 1″-2″ pieces |
| 6 | cups | vegetable or chicken stock |
| 2 | tbsp | crushed garlic |
| 1 | cup | yellow onion finely chopped |
| 1/2 | cup | celery hearts finely chopped including tops |
| 1 | cup | slivered almonds |
| 6 | threads | saffron soaked 5 minutes in 1 tbsp very hot water |
| 3 | tbsp | butter or oil |
To prepare:
Heat the butter or oil in a large heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat until butter is hot but not browning. Add in the slivered almonds and vermicelli and sauté until pasta and almonds just start to brown. Next, add in the garlic, onions, celery, and rice and stir constantly until rice is “cracked” (about half the grains will turn an opaque white) and the vegetables are translucent. Pour in the stock and the saffron water and bring just to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove from heat and let rest 2-3 minutes then serve piping hot.
