If you’ve given up on stovetop rice methods, you’ll love this hands-off oven technique. The rice is Israeli-British chef and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi’s idea of a festive yuletide dish—and “a real embodiment of my own journey,” he says. “Inspired by my Italian Nona’s simple pine-nut rice, served at Passover to accompany a roast, I’ve enhanced it with a few of my signature Middle Eastern favorites—feta, pomegranates, walnuts, mint—and I serve it to a slightly bemused crowd around my very unorthodox Christmas table.”
Recipe information
Yield
6 Servings
Ingredients
Pomegranate Relish
½
¾
¾
½
¼
¼
1
1
Rice and Assembly
2
4
¾
10
8
ingredient Info
Need to make a substitution?
Preparation
Pomegranate Relish
Step 1
Place a rack in upper third of oven; preheat to 350°. Toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden brown, 5–8 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop. Increase oven temperature to 450°.
Step 2
Toss walnuts, pomegranate seeds, olives, oil, mint, parsley, pomegranate molasses, and garlic in a medium bowl to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
Rice and Assembly
Step 3
Combine rice, butter, and salt in a 13x9" baking dish, then pour in a scant 3½ cups water; top with mint sprigs. Cover tightly with foil and bake until rice is tender and water is absorbed, 30–35 minutes. Remove from oven; pluck out mint. Fluff rice with a fork.
Step 4
Heat broiler. Arrange feta over rice. Broil until rice around edges of pan is browned and crisp and feta is starting to brown, 8–10 minutes. Spoon pomegranate relish over.