This is the first of the blogs we are trying at this difficult time outlining how we are trying to make our food go a little bit further and so reduce the pressure we are putting on our food suppliers – especially the supermarkets.
So we are ‘raiding the fridge’ or ‘raiding the freezer’ rather than ‘raiding the supermarkets’. This one is definitely a way to brighten up some leftovers from the fridge. (#Raidthefridge)!
We had cooked some rice the night before and as often happens we had some left. I am always cautious about using left over rice, but I am very happy to do it in the first 24 hours after cooking as long as it is cooled quickly after cooking in the fridge. Raiding the fridge revealed a small piece of guanciale (it is a cured pork like pancetta or bacon made from the pigs cheek). Guanciale is the classical cured pork used to make carbonara – and this was the last bit of some we recently made. Just as easily though you could use a small piece of bacon, a few lardons, or some pancetta.
The shreds of pork we’re dropped into a frying pan with a crushed clove of garlic and lightly fried. The garlic was used to flavour the fats coming out of the pork. We also had a few mushrooms, that in all fairness had seen better days! These were sliced and tossed into the pan to take on some colour. When you have so few it is worth individually turning them over to get some colour on both sides. Take the garlic out of the pan and discard or chop and add back to the mix. Let the mix cool. When cooled we mixed a small spoonful of mayonnaise into the rice just to make it a little richer and slightly sticky. The cooled mushroom and pork mix was then stirred through the rice and the whole dish seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.
Plated and served by itself or with a little salad ……….. a perfect starter!
Smokey cured pork, mushrooms and rice
A simple way to use some cooked rice with mushrooms and a cured piece of pork
Ingredients
- Cooked rice
- Small slice of Guanciale (or bacon, lardon, pancetta)
- A few mushrooms, slices
- Garlic clove
- Salt and pepper
Directions
- Step 1 Shred the Guanciale and drop into a frying pan with a crushed clove of garlic and lightly fry.
- Step 2 Slice the mushrooms and toss into the pan to take on some colour. Turn over to colour both sides
- Step 3 Take the garlic out of the pan and discard or chop and add back to the mix. Let the mix cool.
- Step 4 Mix a small spoonful of mayonnaise into the rice to make it slightly sticky.
- Step 5 Mix the cooled mushroom and pork through the rice. Season with salt and pepper and serve