Baked rice with confit tomatoes and garlic

About

This was my go-to side for a good few months, working well with pretty much anything else on the table. There’s also enough going on, flavour-wise, for it to be lovely as it is, as a main. Peeling so many garlic cloves won’t win me any ‘simple’ brownie points, I know, but, once done, the simple joy of this dish is that the rice is baked in the oven rather than on the stove. For those who find creating perfectly cooked rice in a pan of simmering water strangely difficult, this will be a revelation. Just make sure the foil is sealed tightly over the dish: you don’t want any steam to escape in the oven.

Method

• Preheat the oven to 160°C fan.

• Peel the garlic cloves, peel and cut the shallots into 3cm pieces, chop the coriander.

• Arrange the tomatoes, garlic, shallots, thyme, two thirds of the coriander and cinnamon sticks in a large high-sided casserole dish, about 20 x 30cm. Pour over the olive oil, along with ½ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper, and place in the oven for 1 hour, until the vegetables are soft. Remove from the oven, sprinkle the rice evenly over the vegetables, without stirring them together, and set aside.

• Increase the oven temperature to 220°C fan.

• Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper over the rice and then carefully pour the boiling water over the rice. Seal the dish tightly with tin foil and place in the oven for 25 minutes, until the rice is cooked. Remove from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes, still covered. Remove the foil, sprinkle over the coriander leaves, stir these very gently into the rice and serve.