Black Rice Cake with Sole Fillet and Almonds
The well-mannered sole, the sweet almonds, our black rice making the base. A delicate take on the family rice cake.
A delicate take on the black rice cake: our Il Moro cooked al dente and shaped in a ring mould, sole fillet seared in the pan, blanched almonds toasted and crumbled by knife, lemon sauce with chives. Three minutes of fish in the pan, twenty minutes of active work, fifty-five minutes in total for four. Naturally gluten-free.
We love sole for its good manners: it reaches the palate without making a fuss and lets everything around it speak. For its version of the rice cake we have paired it with almonds, which do the same thing with sweetness. Toasted, chopped by knife and scattered over the fillet, they give the crunchy note without covering the fish, and the chives in the lemon sauce round out the picture.
Our wholegrain black rice Il Moro stays the base of the cake, shaped into a tortino as in the classic version. We dry it at low temperature in our drying facility at Lumellogno, and here that really matters: cooked al dente for thirty minutes the grain stays whole, holds its shape when we mould it in the ring, and does not turn to mush. It is the Sunday supper for when you want to keep things light and eat well.
Ingredients for 4 People
Ingredients
- 280 g Riso Nero Integrale Il Moro Acqua e Sole (wholegrain black rice)
- 4 fillets sole, 100-120 g each (boned, skinless if small, preferably MSC)
- 70 g blanched almonds (Sicily or Puglia)
- 1 unwaxed lemon (for zest and juice)
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, in its skin
- 1 bunch fresh chives
- 1 tbsp clarified butter or high-oleic seed oil
- to taste fine salt
- to taste coarse salt (for cooking the rice)
- to taste freshly ground white pepper
Notes from Home
- Sole is thinner than plaice: short times, a wide thin spatula, and never force it when you turn it over
- Salt only the side that rests on the bottom of the pan, never both: the moisture drawn from the flesh stops it searing
- Almonds chopped by knife into irregular flakes, never to a powder: the crunch is the very point of the dish
- Always fill the ring mould with warm rice, not cold: cold rice will not pack down and the cake collapses
- The handy piece of kit is a steel ring mould 8-9 cm in diameter and 4-5 cm tall, or cylindrical moulds of the same size
Method
Cooking the rice al dente (30 min)
We bring 2 litres of salted water to the boil with coarse salt (about 8 g per litre). Tip in our Il Moro and cook it for exactly 30 minutes, stirring now and then. The grain should come out al dente: soft on the surface and still firm at the heart. Drain it well without rinsing, and leave it in the colander for two minutes to lose the excess moisture.
Lightly dressing the rice (3 min)
Transfer the rice to a bowl. Dress it with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a grating of lemon zest (the yellow part only, never the bitter white pith), a pinch of fine salt and a turn of white pepper. Stir carefully so as not to break the grain. Keep it covered and to one side, it should stay warm.
Toasting the almonds (3-4 min)
Put the blanched almonds in a non-stick pan over a low heat. Toast them for about three minutes, shaking constantly, until they take on a faintly golden colour and become fragrant. Let them cool, then chop them by knife into irregular flakes (not to a powder): it is the uneven crunch that makes the difference in the mouth. Set aside two or three whole almonds for the visual signature of the dish.
Lemon and chive sauce (3 min)
In a small bowl, emulsify with a fork two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, the juice of half a lemon, the finely chopped chives and a pinch of fine salt. Taste it: it should be fresh, lightly sharp, never tipped too far towards the acid. If it is too tart, add a thread of oil. Set aside.
Drying the fish (2 min)
Pat the sole fillets dry with kitchen paper, on both sides. They must be thoroughly dry: surface water stops the pan searing the fish and makes it boil rather than colour. If the fillets have skin, salt only the skin side and pepper the flesh side. If they are skinless, salt only the side that will go against the bottom of the pan.
Shaping the rice cakes (5 min)
On each serving plate set the ring mould in the centre. Fill it with the warm rice to a height of 3-4 cm, pressing with the back of a spoon or a flat tamper: the pressure should be firm but not heavy-handed, the rice packs down without being crushed. Gently lift the ring mould upwards: the cake holds its shape. Repeat for all the plates, keeping them somewhere warm (a switched-off oven at 50°C is fine) while you cook the fish.
Pan and cooking the sole (2-3 min)
Heat a non-stick pan over a medium-high heat for two minutes. Add a tablespoon of clarified butter (or high-oleic seed oil) and the garlic clove in its skin. When the butter is hot but not smoking, lay in the sole fillets with the skin side (or the salted side) against the bottom. Cook for a minute and a half without moving the fish: sole is thinner than plaice, it should be handled with measure. Use a wide thin spatula to turn the fillet without breaking it, then cook another thirty seconds on the other side. Turn off the heat.
Plating the dish (2 min)
On each rice cake lay the sole fillet, leaving it whole or carefully piecing it back together if it has broken. Scatter the flaked almonds over the top, letting some fall around the cake as well. Rest two or three whole almonds on the plate as a detail. Spoon a tablespoon of lemon sauce over the fish and around the rice. Finish with a grating of lemon zest, a turn of white pepper and a few whole stems of chive. Serve at once, the hot fish and the warm rice make the difference.
Lumellogno, the Mediterranean, the almonds of the South
Here at Lumellogno there is no sea, but the fish counter at the Novara market brings the Atlantic and Mediterranean sole that MSC-certified fishing selects with care. Our black rice Il Moro we grow here on the Novara plain and dry at low temperature in our own drying facility. The blanched almonds come from the South, from Sicily or Puglia, where the trees have always been part of the landscape. When we want a Sunday supper that is light and well made, these three supply chains meet on the same plate: the rice stays ours, the fish is from the sea, the almonds are from the South. Three Italian origins, one single rice cake.
Lumellogno · Mediterranean · Sicily & Puglia
Il Moro as a base that holds the shape of the cake
A rice cake holds together for two reasons. One is the pressure of the ring mould, and that is decided by the hand of whoever is cooking. The other is the structure of the grain, and that we decide upstream. In our wholegrain black rice Il Moro the hold on the shape comes from the low-temperature drying we carry out on the farm, in our Lumellogno drying facility: the grain stays whole, keeps its outer membrane, and when it is cooked al dente and then shaped it does not turn to mush. A closed supply chain from seed to bag, ISO 9001 certification, the same quality in every pack.
«For the sole rice cake Il Moro works because it has character but does not overpower: the black, faintly nutty note accompanies the delicate fish without covering it, the grain stays whole beneath the almonds, no competition, only balance.» From the kitchen of Acqua e Sole, Lumellogno
One word of caution we feel bound to give: with sole the cooking goes by eye, not by the clock. Thin skinless fillets can come down to two minutes in total, thicker fillets with skin stay around three. When the flesh turns opaque in the centre, it is ready. Cooked too long, sole loses water and turns to string, and the dish loses the elegance it is made for.
Questions about the rice cake with sole and almonds
Can I replace the sole with another fish?
Which almonds should I use?
Can I prepare the rice cakes ahead?
Suggested Pairing
To accompany this delicate version we like Piedmontese whites with good acidity and finesse, which talk to the sole without covering it. We happily open a dry Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG, or a white from the Colline Novaresi of our own parts.
A young Gavi DOCG works well too, bringing just the right minerality to go with the black rice and the almonds. Avoid tannic reds and overly oaky whites: they would cover the sole and the lemon sauce.
Riso Nero Integrale Il Moro Acqua e Sole
Our wholegrain black rice, grown at Lumellogno and processed in our own rice mill. A firm grain that holds the shape of the cake even after the ring mould, with a mineral, faintly nutty note that accompanies delicate fish without covering them. The right variety for structured preparations, from rice cakes to composed winter salads.
Bring Il Moro homeOriginal Acqua e Sole recipe, from our kitchen at Lumellogno.