Zucchini and Rice Tian
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
This gratin is a great side dish to any protein for dinner and the leftovers can be eaten cold for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
- 500g courgette
- 50g rice
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) flour
- A pinch of nutmeg
- 100ml milk
- Approximately 75g parmesan cheese, grated
- 230mls liquid
Instructions
- Grate the zucchini and place in a colander.
- Toss well with 2-3 tsp of salt and place over a large bowl or pot to catch all the escaping liquid.
- Leave to sit and drain for at least 10 minutes.
- Squeeze the zucchini well to get out the rest of the liquid and dry it a bit.
- Mix 130ml of the liquid with 100ml of milk in a saucepan.
- Meanwhile, cook the rice in plenty of salted boiling water for 5 minutes until it is partially cooked, then drain.
- Saute the onion in a large, deep frying pan with a little oil over low-medium heat for 8 minutes until translucent.
- Turn up the heat for a minute or two to lightly colour the onion.
- Add the zucchini to the pan and cook for 5 minutes or so.
- Turn the heat down, add the garlic and nutmeg and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Heat the milk/juice mixture gently.
- Stir in the flour and mix well until smooth.
- Take off the heat and slowly stir in the milk/juice bit by bit.
- You may be tempted like me to add in extra liquid, thinking the mixture is too dry and the rice won’t soak it up properly. Don’t!
- Put back on the heat until the mixture is bubbling.
- Remove again and stir in the blanched rice and 2/3?s of the cheese.
- Check for seasoning then pour into a buttered baking dish.
- Top with the remaining cheese and drizzle with olive oil (optional).
- Bake at 220C for about 15-20 minutes until the top is golden and crisp, and the rice has absorbed the liquid.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 140
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- Mujadara Recipe: Middle Eastern Lentils and Rice
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I salt and drain the grated zucchini before cooking?
Grated zucchini is tossed with 2–3 tsp of salt and left to drain in a colander for at least 10 minutes, then squeezed well to remove the remaining liquid. Zucchini has a very high water content — skipping this step would waterlog the tian and prevent the rice from absorbing the liquid properly.
Why is the rice only partially cooked (5 minutes) before going into the tian?
The 50g of rice is blanched in salted boiling water for just 5 minutes — partially cooked — then drained. It finishes cooking in the oven over 15–20 minutes at 220°C by absorbing the milk-and-zucchini-juice liquid in the dish. The instructions warn against adding extra liquid even if the mixture looks too dry, as the rice will soak it up during baking.
