Rice pilaf is one of the most widespread rice preparations from the eastern Mediterranean, ie the Middle East, the Balkans and the Caucasus even though it is not washed by Mediterranean waters. The influence of this versatile recipe whose main ingredient is long grain rice comes precisely from the Asian region that occupies what was formerly the Persian Empire (modern Iran and what was Mesopotamia). This invention has been attributed to the aforementioned civilization, along with Turkey. But its influence also come from India. The privileged position of Turkey in the confluence of several seas and two continents makes its cuisine an excellent mixture of flavours and knowledge resulting it being rich and nutritionally well balanced. This dish is a good example because it perfectly combines cereals, meat, vegetables and even olive oil, a healthy and nutritious vegetable fat. The taste for combining rice with meat and other ingredients that also appear in this recipe can be attributed to the Ottoman Empire (1453-1924), where a passion for dolma (vine leaf stuffed with rice, meat, onions, pine nuts and spices) thrived. And it is that rice, in this case, is the star ingredient of Turkish food. It can be mixed with other foods that are affordable, in addition to being able to be used as a starter or as a side dish. The Turks are experts. The contribution of lamb is another key component to round out this rich regional dish of the Eastern Mediterranean.<\/p>\n
4 servings<\/p>\n
350 g long grain rice
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t50 g butter
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t850 g water or broth
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t salt<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t100 g lamb liver
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t2 tbsp pine nuts
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t2 tbsp Corinth raisins
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t1 medium onion
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t2 tbsp butter or olive oil
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t salt
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t pepper\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
To prepare the rice, heat the water or broth. Wash the rice in a colander under running cold water. Melt the butter in a shallow pan, add rice and simmer over medium heat, stirring for about 2 minutes. Add the boiling water or broth, season with a teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Boil for about 15-20 minutes, until the liquid has been completely absorbed.
\nPeel and finely chop the onion. Cut the liver into cubes. Heat olive oil or butter in a skillet and saut\u00e9 the onion and pine nuts until golden. Add the chopped liver and raisins and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
\nAdd salt and pepper and remove from heat. When the rice is cooked, remove from heat, add the liver and other ingredients and stir with the help of two forks. Cover and let stand 5 minutes or so before serving.<\/p>\n
This rice is also used in Turkey for stuffing and as a side dish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","recipe_category":[],"class_list":["post-1320","cp_recipe","type-cp_recipe","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietamediterranea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cooked_recipe\/1320\/"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietamediterranea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cooked_recipe\/"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietamediterranea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cp_recipe\/"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietamediterranea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2\/"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietamediterranea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?post=1320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietamediterranea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1318\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietamediterranea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?parent=1320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cp_recipe_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietamediterranea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/recipe_category\/?post=1320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}