PizzaRice!

I’ve been wanting to try this one for a long, long time, but a lot of things got in the way. First, I had a hard time finding the pesto sauce. Then, I was missing this or that ingredient, or I didn’t have time to cook, etc…

But the idea just seemed so bizarre-ly cool that I had to try it. I originally saw it at the “Round the Chuck Box” blog, and here is the direct link. The picture below is his, but mine turned out looking pretty much the same.

I just shortened the name from “Deep Dish Pizza Rice Entrée” to: “Pizzarice”. I did tweak the recipe a bit, too.

Pizzarice
10” DO
6 briquettes under, 13-15 above, once the baking begins

8 ounces Italian sausage
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 cups long-grain rice
4 ounces sliced pepperoni, cut into quarters
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato pesto
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2-1/2 cups chicken broth
1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Some more ordinary round pepperoni slices

I started by arranging a lot of briquettes under my 10” and a little less under my 8”. In the 8”, I put 2.5 cups of water, to heat or boil to dissolve a couple of chicken bullion cubes into.

In the 10”, I crumbled the sausage and started cooking it. I like to use mild or medium sausage. I like hot sausage, but in dishes I’ve found that hot tends to overpower the rest of the flavors, and all you taste is sausage. In this case, I couldn’t find any medium, so I got mild. For Italian recipes, I like Italian sausage better than ordinary pork breakfast sausage. But use whatcha got.

Once the sausage was cooked, I added the garlic and the onions and cooked those until they were translucent.

By this time, the water was hot enough to dissolve the bullion cubes. So, I pulled the 10” off the coals and added the rice. I stirred it to coat the rice in oil. I don’t know why. The recipe said so. Maybe some of you know and can tell me why.

Then I added the broth, the pesto sauce, and the pepperoni chips. Oops. I just realized I forgot the oregano. Oh, well, the recipe says you should add it at this point. Then, I stirred it all up.

I set up the coals as above and put it on for about 20 minutes. At that point, I spread on the mozzarella (actually I bought a shredded blend of pizza cheeses, including provolone, romano, and parmesan as well as mozzarella), and I topped that with some more pepperoni rounds.

Back on the coals for about another 10 minutes, and we’re good to go!

Wow, that’s good! I’ve had a little trouble with rice dishes of late. This one is cooked perfectly. I think my troubles have been not enough liquid for the rice to absorb.

Tomorrow, my parents are coming over, along with my Dad’s brother, and my mom’s sister. What’s on the iron? Lemon salmon on rice, with rolls on the side! Oh, yeah…