Rice Pie to Die For (yeah, yeah, that's an exaggeration. It's pretty darn good, though!)

I love potluck parties.  I love the idea of them, anyway . . . everyone brings their best dish and guests happily gorge on plastic plates heaped with the craziest combinations of food.  In reality, it seems like everyone brings some variation of meatballs in Crock-pots followed by "cheesy potatoes" which are almost always prepared with ham.  For me, a potluck often leads to disappointment.  I rarely eat anything I haven't made myself since most everything has meat as a major or minor ingredient.  And very few of my family and friends are adventurous enough to eat a whole serving plate of my seitan-based offering.  So I often find myself making a desert or two and then a vegetarian dish that is made with recognizable ingredients for my meat-loving loved ones.

Rice pie is a favorite dish of mine to bring to gatherings.  It's simple and can have endless variations depending on what you add to the mix.  I like it best plain and simple (as pictured).  This is a perfect dish for get-togethers because it travels well and is really best (in my opinion) when it's room temperature.  As an added bonus, it costs next to nothing to make and if you have leftover cooked rice you can use that instead (two cups should do it). I've made this with all kinds of rice, but like using white rice the best.   

1 cup long-grain white rice
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup ricotta, strained
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pie crust, unbaked

 

 

1.  Preheat oven to 450º.  Bring 3 cups of water to boil and add 1 tablespoon salt.  Add rice and cook in boiling water for 12 minutes, then strain, and place in large bowl.  Add 2 tablespoons butter, a bit at a time, then stir in ricotta and parmesan.   Add remaining ingredients; stir.

2.  Fill pie crust with rice mixture.   Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.  Cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.