Oven-baked tomato rice with butter beans

Name: Oven-baked tomato rice with butter beans
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 30g butter; 1 x 400g tin butter beans; 2 medium red onions, peeled and finely diced; 15g basil, leaves picked, stalks very finely chopped; Sea salt and black pepper; 250g cherry tomatoes, cut in half; 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced; 280g short-grain rice; 200g feta – the good-value stuff is usually sold as ‘Greek-style salad cheese’; 80g black olives

6 steps

Prep:10minCook:1h 15min

Cooking short-grain rice in the oven is a breeze. Once you’ve got the hang of the very simple technique, adapt what you put into the mix – omit the tomatoes, say, and add a bit more stock and an array of other vegetables (peas would be top of my list, incidentally). Serve with a simple salad.

Updated at: Wed, 16 Aug 2023 21:05:43 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Good

Glycemic Index

Moderate

Glycemic Load

High

Nutrition per serving

Calories628.9 kcal (31%)

Total Fat27.5 g (39%)

Carbs78.6 g (30%)

Sugars3.9 g (4%)

Protein17.2 g (34%)

Sodium1177.8 mg (59%)

Fiber7.1 g (25%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

4 servings

2 Tbspolive oil

30gbutter

1 x 400gtin butter beans

2red onions

medium, peeled and finely diced

15gbasil

leaves picked, stalks very finely chopped

sea salt

black pepper

250gcherry tomatoes

cut in half

2garlic cloves

peeled and finely sliced

280gshort-grain rice

200gfeta

the good-value stuff is usually sold as ‘Greek-style salad cheese’

80gblack olives

Instructions

Step 1

Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Put the oil and butter in an ovenproof pan for which you have a lid and put it in the oven to heat up.

Step 2

Drain the liquid from the butter bean can into a large measuring jug, then add boiling water to bring it up to 840ml. Pour this into a saucepan on a medium heat, and keep it hot.

Step 3

Stir the onion, basil stalks and a good pinch of salt into the hot casserole, cover and return to the oven for 15 minutes, until the onions soften. Stir in the tomatoes, cover again and return to the oven for another 15 minutes, until they, too, soften and release some of their liquid; stir once halfway, to check how they’re getting on and to give them a little mash up to encourage those juices to flow. Stir in the garlic and return to the oven uncovered for three minutes.

Step 4

Stir the rice into the pot, so it’s all well coated in the tomato mixture. Pour in the hot bean liquid, give everything a good stir and return to the oven uncovered for 20 minutes. By this point, the rice should have absorbed two-thirds of the liquid, so add a little more boiling water if there’s less than that left. Stir in the butter beans and return to the oven for 12 minutes, by which time the liquid should have all been absorbed and the rice should be cooked; it’s not meant to be entirely dry, so add some more boiling water if you prefer it wetter.

Step 5

Take out of the oven, stir in the feta and olives, cover the pan with a clean cloth and leave to rest and settle for five minutes.

Step 6

Tear in most of the basil leaves, stir them through the rice, then spoon into warm bowls and serve with the remaining basil scattered on top.