Rice and Kale Gratin, original recipe from The Vegetarian Times
Optional step for non-vegetarians: If you do NOT want a vegetarian version, then fry about a cup of bacon (we buy ours in bulk, snip it up, and store it in small ziplock bags in the freezer, so I don’t know how many strips we used). Snipe the bacon into pieces and combine it with the rice below, reserving the grease for frying the kale.
Vegetarian Recipe: Combine 3 cups leftover cooked rice with a cup of diced peppers, a cup of frozen corn, and a teaspoon of thyme. Mix well. Suggestion- the original recipe calls for cooking the rice in broth and the above ingredients, which we did not do because I wanted to use the leftover rice. But I think it would have been better if we’d stirred some melted butter into the mixture.
Rinse about a pound of kale greens, cut off and remove the stems, chop the rest and steam for about five minutes in a pot.
In a large bowl combine the kale, rice mixture, 1 1/2 cups of Ricotta cheese, about 3/4 cups of Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. (doing this again, I would add a cup of milk into which an egg or two has been whisked to make it creamier).
Top with remaining Parmesan cheese and some bread crumbs.
Put into an oiled 9X13 pan and bake at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes.
One Comment