Mediterranean vegetable rice

Bombs of green pesto, olive tapenade, creamy mozzarella & basil

Mediterranean vegetable rice

Mediterranean vegetable rice

Serves Serves 4
Time Cooks In45 minutes
DifficultyNot too tricky
Nutrition per serving Plus
  • Calories 522 26%
  • Fat 26.4g 38%
  • Saturates 5.8g 29%
  • Sugars 5.7g 6%
  • Salt 1.5g 25%
  • Protein 11.9g 24%
  • Carbs 63.4g 24%
  • Fibre 3.2g -
Of an adult's reference intake
Veg
recipe adapted from

Veg

By Jamie Oliver
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Ingredients

  • 300 g basmati rice
  • 1 small red onion
  • 1 courgette
  • 4 ripe mixed-colour tomatoes
  • 4 tablespoons green pesto
  • olive oil
  • 8 black olives , (stone in)
  • white wine vinegar
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 sprigs of fresh basil
  • ½ x 125 g ball of mozzarella cheese
Tap For Method
Veg
recipe adapted from

Veg

By Jamie Oliver
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Tap For Ingredients

Method

  1. Preheat the grill to high.
  2. Tip the rice into a 25cm x 35cm roasting tray (or use a large round shallow ovenproof pan or tray, like I’ve done here, if you have one), pour over 650ml of boiling salted water and cook over a medium heat for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat.
  3. Meanwhile, peel the red onion, then very finely slice with the courgette, or use a mandolin (use the guard!). Finely slice the tomatoes into rounds.
  4. Randomly bomb the pesto over the rice, then start layering up your veg: cover the rice with rounds of onion, then move on to a layer of courgettes, overlapping them as you go, followed by a layer of tomatoes. Repeat, moving slightly nearer the middle each time until you’ve covered the whole surface (use the picture to help you out – it might look a bit fiddly, but it’s child’s play to make).
  5. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper, then place under the grill on the middle shelf for 25 minutes, or until beautifully gratinated.
  6. Meanwhile, for the tapenade, destone and very finely chop the olives, then mix with ½ a tablespoon each of vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.
  7. To serve, pick over the basil leaves, dot over the olive tapenade and delicately tear over the mozzarella.

Tips

EASY SWAPS
Very finely slicing the veg means you can pretty much use any kind or variety – baby carrots, fennel, aubergines, beetroot – to really celebrate the seasons in a flamboyant way.

GO VEGGIE
Use vegetarian pesto.

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Veg
recipe adapted from

Veg

By Jamie Oliver
BUY THE BOOK