Guest Recipe: Yotam Ottolenghi's Cheese Ball Lemon Rice With Chilli Butter
Cheesy, briny, chilli-butter-doused rice {v, nf}
As we head into October, Yotam Ottolenghi’s Cheese Ball Lemon Rice with Chilli Butter is the ultimate comfort dish for cosy nights in. This cheesy, briny rice traybake, infused with lemon and topped with rich chilli butter, is as delicious as it is satisfying. Perfect as a side for roast chicken or as a comforting main with wilted greens.
If you’re in need of more comforting recipes as we head into the colder month, check out Yotam’s new book ‘Ottolenghi Comfort’.
To see more of Yotam’s amazing recipes be sure to follow him on Instagram.
CHEESEBALL LEMON RICE WITH CHILLI BUTTER
{v, nf}
THE INGREDIENTS
8 cloves
6 cardamom pods, bashed
1 lemon: shave the skin into strips, then juice to get 2 tbsp
125g ricotta
150g feta, crumbled
125g hard mozzarella, grated
25g Parmesan, grated
1 egg, beaten
400g basmati rice, rinsed and drained well
75g pitted green olives, cut in half
100g unsalted butter
½ tsp chilli flakes
¾ tsp Aleppo chilli flakes
½ tsp sumac
5 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal into 1cm pieces
salt
THE METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
Pour 750ml of water into a medium saucepan and add the cloves, cardamom pods, lemon strips and 1½ teaspoons of salt. Place on a medium-high heat, bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, put the four cheeses and the egg into a medium bowl and mix well. Using your hands, divide the mixture into 12 portions and roll them roughly into balls, approximately 40g each. They don’t need to be perfect, as they will spread once in the rice.
Scatter the rice on the bottom of a high-sided baking tray or dish, 24cm x 32cm (or a 28cm ovenproof sauté pan, for which you have a lid), and scatter over the olives. Pour over the hot water and aromatics. Shake the tray gently to spread the rice evenly, then deposit the cheese balls in the rice. Cover the tray tightly with foil (or lid), to keep the steam in, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to settle, covered, for 10 minutes.
While the rice is resting, melt the butter in a medium saucepan on a medium heat. Add the chilli flakes, Aleppo flakes and sumac and cook for 2–3 minutes. Add the spring onions and cook for a further 20 seconds. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and set aside.
Uncover the rice and spoon the chilli butter all over just before serving.
Abbreviations:
v- Vegetarian, pb - Plant based, gf - Gluten Free, nf - Nut free, df - Dairy free.
Extracted from Ottolenghi COMFORT by Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh, Verena Lochmuller and Tara Wigley (Ebury Press, £30). All photography by Jonathan Lovekin.
