La Bella Ro

Rice Bowl With Spinach Pesto

  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Prep time: 15 min
  • Cook time: 50 min
  • Serving: 6 persone
  • Cost: Low

Ingredients

  • Rice 1 cup (320 g)
  • Quartirolo Lombardo cheese 5 oz (150 g)
  • Black sesame seeds to taste
  • Fine salt to taste
  • Snap peas 7 oz (200 g)
FOR THE SPINACH PESTO
  • Spinach 7 oz (200 g)
  • Fine salt to taste
  • Water 7 tbsp (100 g)
  • Garlic 1 Clove
  • Pine nuts 2 tbsp (15 g)
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
FOR THE CRISPY CHICKPEAS
  • Precooked chickpeas 2 cups (400 g) - drained
  • Fine salt to taste
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • Green Peperoncino to taste

Preparation

Searching for a single, healthful dish? We’re going to demonstrate how to make a rice bowl with spinach pesto today! A nutritious yet incredibly tasty dish that will transform both your office and home lunch breaks! This time of year, bowls, which resemble poke, are becoming more and more popular. They have distinct amounts of vegetables, proteins, and carbs. We are confident that our vegetarian version will catch your attention. The homemade spinach pesto is what really adds a distinctive flavor and creamy touch to our bowl, even though we also used simple rice, crispy chickpeas, tender snow peas, and diced quartirolo cheese. This dish is ideal for a healthy lunch that can be easily carried with you and enjoyed at room temperature.

To prepare the rice bowl with spinach pesto, start with the crispy chickpeas. Rinse and thoroughly drain the precooked chickpeas. Place them in a bowl and season with oil

  1. salt and powdered peperoncino to taste
  2. Stir thoroughly
  3. Place the chickpeas on a previously greased tray that is big enough so that they form a single layer without overlapping
  4. Bake in a static oven preheated to 392°F (200°C) for around 20 minutes. Now switch to ventilated mode for another 10 minutes. To ensure they cook evenly, remove the tray a couple of times and turn them over. In the meantime, cook the rice in boiling salted water
  5. for the time indicated on the packet. Drain and cool under running water
  6. Place the rice in a bowl, season with the oil
  7. stir thoroughly and leave to one side
  8. The chickpeas are done, remove them from the oven

  9. Now prepare the spinach. Brown a previously crushed garlic clove in a large pan with a drizzle of oil. Add the spinach

  10. and cook for 2-3 minutes, until wilted. Remove the garlic
  11. and season with the salt. 
  12. Leave to cool, then place in a long and narrow container. Add the pine nuts
  13.  the water
  14. and a drizzle of oil. Blend with an immersion mixer
  15. into a smooth and homogeneous mixture. Now thoroughly wash the snow peas and cut into lozenges of around 0.8 inches, by using slanted cuts
  16. Blanche in boiling salted water
  17. for around 3 minutes, until tender. Drain and cool in water
  18. Dice the quartirolo cheese
  19. Prepare your bowl: fill a quarter of it with the rice
  20. add the quartirolo cheese cubes next to it 
  21. Now add the chickpeas
  22. and to finish, the snow peas
  23. Lastly, add the spinach pesto and black sesame seeds
  24. Serve and enjoy your bowl!

Storage

You can store all the preparations or the assembled bowl for one day in the refrigerator.

Tips

You could also stir the rice with the spinach pesto, for a different version.

For a non-spicy alternative, flavor the chickpeas with sweet paprika. 

You can replace quartirolo cheese with feta or fresh cacioricotta pugliese.

For the pesto you could use almonds or walnuts instead of pine nuts.

Source: Giallo Zafferano

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