Rice in Stew

Asked by SPARKLEYEM. Answered on 12th August 2012

Full question

I saw Nigella do a receipe ages ago, where she cooked a tomato sauce and added rice which swelled the sauce up and gave it substance. Can you let me know which recipe this is? Many thanks Emily.

Our answer

We suspect that the recipe you are looking for is the Risotto Bolognese whih appears in Nigella's book Kitchen (p356). The sauce is actually a ragu, a sauce made with minced (ground) beef and tomatoes. Once the sauce has cooked the risotto rice is added, along with extra stock (broth), and cooked until the rice is tender. It is a particulalry satisfying dish and any leftovers can be formed into patties and topped with cheese to make particularly special rice cakes.

It is also possible that the recipe you are thinking of is Nigella's Tomato and Rice soup from How to Eat (p180). This is a very speedy soup made by heating a good quality store-bought tomato soup and adding basmati rice. The soup is then sinnered for around 10 minutes, until the rice is tender.