Rice Pilaf
Rice pilaf can be served as a side-dish or main dish.
Servings
8
6 tbsp butter or margarine
½ cup uncooked orzo pasta or uncooked vermicelli pasta broken into small pieces
2 cups uncooked long grain rice
4 cups boiling-hot chicken broth
¼ tsp salt
4 cloves of garlic
1 big onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced small
Melt butter or margarine in heavy deep pan or Dutch oven over medium heat.
Add vegetables and let them be lightly cooked without coloring; using the vegetables would mean you omit the orzo pasta.
Add orzo pasta (or small broken pieces of vermicelli pasta) and cook, stirring constantly until pasta is golden brown.
Add rice and stir until rice is well coated with butter. Allow rice to simmer in butter for a minute or two.
Add boiling chicken broth and salt.
Lower heat to a simmer, cover pan and cook 25 minutes over low heat until liquid is absorbed.
25 minutes
Gently fluff with a fork. Let stand for 15–20 minutes before serving.
15–20 minutes
- •Substitute an equal amount of vegetable broth for the chicken broth to create a vegetarian version of this recipe.
- •Substitute orzo with pine nuts if desired; this is traditionally done in Lebanon.