Baked Rice With Slow-Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic

Baked Rice With Slow-Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Total Time
1 hour 45 minutes
Rating
5(981)
Notes
Read community notes

Baking rice on a bed of tender vegetables has to be one of the most fail-safe ways to prepare it. Here tangy-sweet tomatoes, garlic and shallots are slowly roasted in olive oil with cinnamon and thyme, then baked with basmati rice until everything is fragrant and soft. Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook, “Ottolenghi Simple,” it makes a spectacular side dish to pan-seared meats or fish, or can be the heart of a vegetarian meal with some crumbled feta and pine nuts sprinkled on top for serving. —Melissa Clark

Featured in: The 19 Best Cookbooks of Fall 2018

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • pounds cherry tomatoes
  • 12large garlic cloves
  • 4large shallots, cut into 1¼-inch pieces
  • cup cilantro stems, cut into 1½-inch pieces
  • 3tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 4small cinnamon sticks
  • 1teaspoon fine sea salt, more as needed
  • Black pepper, as needed
  • 7tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • cups basmati rice
  • cups boiling water
  • ½cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

393 calories; 17 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 57 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 412 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Step 2

    In an 8-by-12-inch casserole dish, toss together tomatoes, garlic, shallots, cilantro stems, thyme, cinnamon sticks, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Pour oil over everything, then bake until vegetables are soft, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and increase oven temperature to 450.

  3. Step 3

    Without stirring anything, sprinkle rice evenly over vegetables. Top with remaining ½ teaspoon salt and plenty of black pepper.

  4. Step 4

    Carefully pour boiling water over rice, then cover dish tightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes, until rice is cooked. Remove from oven and set aside for 10 minutes, still covered.

  5. Step 5

    Remove foil, gently stir in cilantro leaves, taste and add more salt if needed, and serve.

Ratings

5 out of 5
981 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I use a corningware dish with a lid. Lay foil over the dish and mash it down with the lid. That usually makes a tight enough seal.

Fabulous flavor - a keeper! Next time I will either roast the vegetables at 325 or check for doneness after 50 minutes, as some of the tomatoes burned and stuck to the bottom of the dish after 55 minutes at 350, even with 7 tblsp oil.

Made this in my dutch oven - no foil required - and it came out perfectly. Greedy dinner guests insisted on taking the leftovers with them. Rotters.

I am making now. I used the twelve cloves as I don’t tinker until I’ve made it once. It didn’t say to mince, chop, or slice so I put them in whole. I’m thinking they will roast and become mellow since they’ll be cooking for almost an hour and a half. I’ll report back.

I left the tomatoes whole. I thought the amount of garlic was fine. I’m making again tonight and this time I just put the whole head in (the way you do when you roast it to make a spread for bread). I lost my cinnamon sticks (LOL) so put in four cardamom pods instead. I might replace some of the water with dry white wine.

Cut the recipe in half and it was so fragrant and tasty. I will be fixing this on a regular basis.

Boy did this hit the spot on a cold night! Super easy to make, and the flavor was awesome. I made a couple of changes based on other reviews. I swapped the water for vegetable broth, and use smashed cardamom pods instead of cinnamon. This is going to be on heavy rotation in our home.

I cooked this exactly as written and it turned out terrific! The garlic and shallots melted into the rice when all was done, giving it a beautiful flavor. I might add a little ground cinnamon next time (and maybe some cardamom), but otherwise I won't mess with it. It would make an elegant rice dish for a vegetarian/vegan dinner party - particularly paired with Julia Moskin's Pan-Roasted Eggplant With Peanut-Chile Sauce, which is also off the hook delicious.

Love this dish; it’s so flexible. I’ve made it with a mix of chicken stock and water; I’ve added sliced almonds and raisins; I’ve added chicken to make it a main dish. It’s an easy recipe to make. The only ‘work’ is in the preparation of the vegetables; otherwise it prepares itself.

I have now made this multiple times and it is absolutely delicious. You can use any and every type of vegetable, whatever you have in the fridge will work. I have used: carrots, bell peppers, jalapeños, corn, sweet potato and mini Yukon golds. I always keep the cherry tomatoes whole and smash the garlic with my knife. It makes a great lunch bowl, too, with avocado and greens and protein and is also delightful with Marbella chicken.

Wondering if some other kind of rice would work, such as red or brown?

Made this pretty much as written x for only 1 C rice and 2 C water. Perfect! Love this recipe. Also used regular tomatoes cut into grape tomato size. I can’t believe how delicious this is. Also used fresh thyme stalks- didn’t bother to remove leaves. Just great!

Made as per recipe except used parsley (chopped stems coarsely), 1/2 chicken broth/half water, chopped onion instead of shallots, plus sage, basil I had in house added to thyme. Was delicious. Also made in Dutch oven so used cover rather than foil. Served from pot. Was a real hit

I made this first as written, but found it boring, too cinnamon-forward, & lacking in flavor. Next time I cut the cinnamon, used 1/2c veg broth instead of water, and added chopped Castelvetrano olives before adding the rice and broth. Finished w/ freshly grated parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lemon juice. The broth, olives, parmesan, and lemon took it to the next level. Both times the rice (Basmati) was cooked perfectly. This recipe is adaptable; use the ingredients you like & make it your own.

This is delicious! You can swap the cilantro for parsley or just leave it out. Don’t leave out the cinnamon- it truly makes this dish.

Long time to cook but mostly hands off. Tony and Nico liked it

June 2024. Yum. Soaked daawat rice for 30 min while tomatoes roasted. Used burlap barrel shallot, dried thyme. Added a few green cardamom pods too. Would use three instead of two tomato cutie cartons. Would use prepeeled garlic in the future to hasten prep. Added one can of chickpeas with rice, in future could consider frozen peas at last 5 min steam stage. Great dinner party option. Would serve with chakundari chicken tikka and cucumber raita.

Also added better than bouillon chicken to water

This rice is fabulous! It's easy and makes an impressive side dish. It can be made with chopped onion instead of shallots. I cook the vegetables for 30 minutes so they still have shape but are nice and soft. My family asks for this rice for special occasion dinners and I always get compliments on it.

I like to cook my vegetables at 400 degrees for 30 minutes instead of one hour at 350. Mostly to save time and they get a tiny bit toasty. My family absolutely loves this rice. It's different than the normal rice recipes and it's delicious. Onions can be used in place of shallots. In a pinch, I have even used leeks. It's great with shredded roast chicken from the store mixed in. It's a bit of a updated casserole with the chicken. This rice is a winner!

A new family/guest favorite. Was so skeptical about the 12 garlic cloves but not anymore. WOW! Only used one cinnamon stick, though. So delicious that our dinner guests took home the leftovers and left none for us. 😄

Delicious!

I have been making this for weeks because it so fabulous! Decided to switch it up and use 1 cup Bob's Red Mill farro. Toasted the farro (after rinsing and drying) for 10 minutes while veggies were roasting. Halved the oil and tomatoes, cilantro stems and added all 4 shallots with diced garlic scapes because I had them. Added the farro as if it were the rice with boiling water. Needed to add a dash more water before I set it on the stove top with a towel and the lid for 15 minutes. So darn good!

Too much rice, soggy and boring dish. I’ll not bother making it again.

Definitely use a dish big enough to cover all of the rice with water. The white dish wasn’t big enough and some rice was left hard.

Used parboiled rice. Used about 2 cups water. Used cilantro and parsley, omitted cinnamon stick. Added hot peppers. Left tomatoes whole and crushed them halfway though. Easy to customize.

A bit of goat cheese or feta never hurts.

After seeing the reviews and reading the comments, I made this. Used mostly chicken broth and reduced the cinnamon sticks to just 2 small ones. We love garlic but 12 seemed so excessive — went with it anyway. Gracious was this delicious! Best rice dish I have ever had! Will be a family fav.

Too much oil; cut in half!

Great dish, easy to make and high reward. I’ll add chickpeas or something next time to get some protein in there for a one pan meal. Super yummy, made mostly as written but had to go without cilantro (none in the house) and added cubed Japanese yams with the veggies because I love them. Worked great!

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Credits

Adapted from “Ottolenghi Simple” by Yotam Ottolenghi (Ten Speed, 2018)

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