We vowed to set Jamie’s 5 Ingredients book aside for a while but we keep coming back to it – this time as we only needed to pick up one ingredient. This is definitely not conventional cooking as we know it but it works, and we’re continually surprised by what read like pretty ordinary dishes. This makes a great midweek meal served with a rocket salad but would also be a good side for roast or barbecued meat.
Wine Suggestion: What you choose may depend on if there’s meat being cooked too, but we ate this initially on its own so went for the Dog Point Chardonnay which was both rich and round as well as fresh and vibrant; perfect.
Italian Baked Rice – serves 4
- 2 onions, peeled, quartered and divided into petals
- 60g fennel salami
- 300g Arborio rice
- 1 heaped tbsp mascarpone cheese
- 40g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4.
Put a large shallow casserole over a high heat. Throw the onion petals into the pan and char for about 4 minutes, tossing regularly.
Reduce the heat to medium and stir in 1 tbsp of olive oil and the salami, then the rice and cook for 1 minute. Add 1.2 litres of boiling kettle water and the mascarpone, then stir in the Parmesan with some sea salt and black pepper.
Bake the rice in the oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until the rice has absorbed the liquid and is just cooked through. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and season to taste before serving.
(Original recipe from 5 Ingredients by Jamie Oliver, Michael Joseph, 2017.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 
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