Baked Rice with Wild Mushrooms and Cheese

Serves:	6
Recipe Type:	Veg.
Preparation Time:	20 M
Cooking Time:	50 M
Difficulty:	Average

Ingredients:

• 60 g reduced-fat mature Cheddar Cheese (grated)
• 2 tbsp Parmesan Cheese (freshly grated)
• 25 g dry-pack sun-dried Tomatoes
• 20 g dried Porcini Mushrooms
• 3 Garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 1 large Onion (finely chopped)
• 185g long-grain Brown Rice
• 600 ml hot Water
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• Pepper (to taste)
• ½ tsp dried Sage

Cooking Instructions:

• Place the porcini in a small bowl and pour 350ml of the hot water over them. Put the sun-dried tomatoes in a separate small bowl and pour the remaining hot water over them. Allow to soak for about 20 minutes or until softened.
• Scoop the mushrooms out of their soaking liquid and finely chop them. Strain the soaking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Strain the sun-dried tomato soaking liquid into the same bowl and set aside. Coarsely chop the tomatoes.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas mark 4). Heat the olive oil and 3 tbsp of the mushroom and tomato soaking liquid in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook for about 7 minutes or until the onion is golden.
• Add the rice, stirring to coat. Add the mushrooms and tomatoes, the remaining soaking liquid, sage and pepper, and bring to the boil. Transfer the rice mixture to a 20cm square baking dish. Cover with foil, transfer to the oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until the rice is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed. Sprinkle the hot rice with the Cheddar and Parmesan cheeses before serving.