Author Notes
I enjoyed an ouzi at a Middle Eastern restaurant, and then recreated my own version at home. This makes a great vegetarian dish, served in individual puff pastry pieces. You could add meat or chicken pieces for non-vegetarians, and you could use different vegetables, such as peas or shredded cabbage. To save myself, I didn't try to recreate the pastry, but just used store-bought puff pastry sheets. - thirdchild —thirdchild
Test Kitchen Notes
Thirdchild has created a fine recipe. A lovely mixture of fragrant rice studded with vegetables, raisins, mushrooms and nuts is baked inside a case of crisp pastry. The mixture of wild and basmati rice provides dramatic color contrast. as well as depth of flavor and texture. I shredded my vegetables (carrot, turnip, and parsnip) in the food processor, producing pieces about the same size as the cooked rice. I substituted phyllo dough for the puff pastry, using two leaves of dough, folded twice, for each serving. (Looking for a little less butter, although I brushed the phyllo surfaces with melted ghee.). If made as small-sized pastries, these ouzi would be delicious appetizers. Larger ones can be either an entree or a side dish. —AppleAnnie
Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
-
1
medium onion, diced
-
3 tablespoons
olive oil
-
1 teaspoon
cinnamon
-
1 teaspoon
cayenne pepper (or less)
-
1 teaspoon
ground cumin
-
1 teaspoon
ground allspice
-
1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground cardamom
-
1/2 teaspoon
ground nutmeg
-
1/4 teaspoon
ground black pepper
-
1/4 teaspoon
ground white pepper
-
2
good-sized carrots, small-diced
-
1
zucchini, small-diced
-
5
shiitake mushrooms, small-diced
-
1/3 cup
golden raisins
-
1/4 cup
chopped pecans or sliced almonds or pinenuts
-
2 cups
cooked white basmati rice
-
2 cups
cooked wild rice
-
1 cup
vegetable or chicken stock
-
salt to taste
-
1
puff pastry sheet, thawed in fridge for a couple of hours
-
1
egg
-
1 teaspoon
water
Directions
-
Heat olive oil in a good-sized skillet, then add diced onion. Saute for about 5 minutes, until soft.
-
Add all the spice ingredients, and fry for an additional minute, until nicely fragrant.
-
Add carrots, zucchini, and mushrooms (or vegetables of your choice) and stir.
-
Pour in 1/2 cup of stock and cover pan. Cook for about 2-3 minutes.
-
Add raisins, nuts, and the cooked rices. Pour in the remaining 1/2 cup stock. Check to see if there is enough liquid for a moist mixture. If dry, add more stock. Stir until well-mixed, with heat under the skillet. Add salt to taste, then turn off skillet and set mixture aside.
-
Roll out puff pastry sheet, sprinkling with flour to prevent sticking. Cut the sheet into four pieces. Pile the rice filling onto the individual pieces, using about 1/4 of the filling for each piece, then fold the pastry over the top.
-
Whisk together the egg and water, then paint the tops of the pastries with it.
-
Place pastries on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and bake for about 30 minutes at 425 degrees. Watch so they don't get too too brown!
See what other Food52ers are saying.