First, let me just say that I am no expert at cooking rice. I was raised with Minute Rice and thought that a fine thing; even now, following advice from experts, my efforts at making ‘real’ rice is kinda hit or miss – unless you count Vigo’s Yellow Rice, which I love, and which always turns out perfectly in the rice cooker.
Which is a roundabout way of saying that this rice was delicious, but if you have a preferred way of cooking your rice before adding the pine nuts and basil, go for it.
Even if you choose to use Minute Rice (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
INGREDIENTS
•1/2 cup pine nuts*
•1 tbsp olive oil
•1 cup long grain white rice
•2 cups chicken stock
•1/2 tsp sea salt
•1/2 cup packed fresh basil, finely chopped
•1 tbsp butter
*I only buy the Italian pine nuts, which can be tricky to find and pricey, but feel free to substitute another nut; cashews, pistachios, even walnuts would work.
Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, then add the pine nuts and cook, stirring, until golden; about two minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside. I turned mine into a paper towel lined bowl to catch any stray oil.
Note: this next bit is how I cooked my rice, as noted above, if you have a way you like that works for you, please proceed.
Rinse the rice three or four times, then drain well. Add butter and chicken stock to rice cooker with the rice and sea salt and cook until done.
Let rest on warm for 15 minutes, then fluff with a fork and add the toasted pine nuts and chopped basil and toss to combine.
Serve.
Nice rice, and simple, too. I’d toasted the pine nuts in a rather large pan earlier, then used that pan to make the rest of that evening’s dinner, so it was a pretty simple deal from pot usage and clean up, too.
Oh, the main course?
Well, that just so happens to be tomorrow’s post: my take on Chicken Tikka Masala, and I think you may want to check this out.
Howsomever you make your rice.