Serves 6.
Ingredients
450g of long grain rice
2 to 3 tablespoons of oil, for example olive or sunflower
1 large onion chopped
350g (approximately) chopped vegetables such as pepper, mushrooms, courgettes, aubergine, celery and squash
100g (approximately) frozen peas
150g (approximately) green beans, trimmed (and sliced if using runner beans)
1 tin chopped or peeled tomatoes
1 teaspoon of paprika or smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of ground cumin (optional)
900ml hot vegetable stock
half a teaspoon of saffron (optional) mixed into the stock
Salt and pepper
Handful of olive to taste, chopped if you wish
Handful of fresh parsley chopped
Method
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and fry the onions until they start to turn colour, then add the garlic for 1 minute, then add the chopped vegetables and fry for a further 3 minutes.
- Transfer to a large casserole dish. Add the peas, green beans, tinned tomatoes, rice, spices and stock, allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Cover the casserole dish and transfer to the oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed (or simmer altogether in a large pan on the hob).
- Season to taste and leave to stand for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the olives and serve sprinkled with fresh parsley.