I’ve been working on this recipe for a short while now. I grew up with rice pilaf made from a box-mix. The Near East brand is actually quite good. I have yet to be able to quite replicate it, but I do like the results of this recipe.
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbs. butter
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup rice
- 1/4 cup Orzo (pasta)
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Directions:
In a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. While the butter is melting, chop the onions. How you chop them is up to your preference, for this recipe I tend to err on the finer side, but still rough-chopped not aiming for any shape in particular. When the butter foams, add onions to the pan and saute. Once the onions have started to cook, reduce the heat to medium, add the rice and orzo and stirring immediately, thoroughly and frequently. Once the butter has been absorbed, add the water and salt, cover and reduce to medium-low heat. Remove from heat when the rice is done.
Rice is done when all the water has been absorbed. This is not to say when all the moisture is absorbed. I like to pull my rice off of cooking heat when there is still a clear coat of water on the grains before it totally dries out. Removing from heat while there is still measurable water in the bottom of the pan is too early.
I tend to double this recipe whenever I make it.