Red Rice with Curry, Courgettes and Cannellini Beans
A one-dish meal in three layers. Wholegrain red rice that holds the grain.
A layered vegan one-dish meal with Il Cardinale (Acqua e Sole wholegrain red rice), a blended cannellini bean cream as the base and courgettes sautéed in a light curry on top. Three layers, three temperatures of flavour, served warm. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, ready in sixty minutes with our Cardinale from Lumellogno of the closed supply chain.
Here on the Novara plain we also like to cook a little further from home, as long as we know what we are doing. This dish is one of those: a wholegrain red rice, a smooth cannellini bean cream as the base, courgettes sautéed in curry on top. Three layers, three temperatures of flavour, a one-dish meal that holds up well even warm. It is not a traditional Piedmontese recipe, it is a recipe that works because every element does its job.
The rice we use is our Cardinale, wholegrain red rice from Lumellogno: whole red pericarp, wholegrain, compact structure. We cook it the English way in salted water for about thirty-five minutes, drained and not absorbed, so it stays separate and does not turn the cream beneath it floury. The cannellini bean cream is the base that binds it all together, smooth and velvety, spread across the flat plate. On top of the rice, on top of the courgettes cut into thin rounds and sautéed quickly with a light curry, Madras or Garam Masala. We finish with fresh herbs and a drizzle of good oil, and bring it to the table warm.
Ingredients for 4 People
Ingredients
- 280 g Il Cardinale Acqua e Sole rice (wholegrain red rice)
- 2,5 L water for cooking the rice
- 1 tbsp coarse salt
- 400 g cooked cannellini beans (drained, or a 400 g tin)
- 600 g courgettes (3 medium, ideally pale or trumpet)
- 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (3 for the cream, 2 for the courgettes)
- 120-150 ml warm vegetable stock to adjust the cream
- 1 tbsp curry powder (Madras or Garam Masala, light)
- 1 small garlic clove, blanched (optional)
- to taste fresh parsley, coriander or mint leaves
- to taste fine salt, freshly ground white pepper
- to taste extra-virgin olive oil, raw, to finish
Notes from Home
- Il Cardinale cooked the English way, drained and not absorbed: in 35-40 minutes the grain is firm at the core, separate, and does not turn the cream beneath it floury
- Cannellini beans blended with oil and a trickle of stock until a spreadable cream, not a liquid one: it should fall slowly from the spoon, not slide away
- Courgettes never salted in advance: in the pan they would stew instead of sauté. Salt only at the end, after the curry
- Curry on courgettes that are already golden, over a lively heat, thirty seconds and no more: it needs to touch the hot base to release its scent, never to burn
- Served warm, never cold: the cream at the right temperature tastes better, the curry stays alive, the three layers read on the palate
Preparation
Cooking the rice (35-40 min)
We bring a large pan with 2,5 litres of salted water to the boil (one level tablespoon of coarse salt). We add the red Il Cardinale rice and cook it over a medium heat for about thirty-five minutes, stirring now and then. Taste after thirty minutes to judge it: the grain is ready when it is cooked but stays firm at the core. Cooking the English way, with the rice drained and not absorbed, is the right technique for this dish.
Cannellini bean cream (10 min, in parallel)
Put the drained cannellini beans in a blender or in a tall jug for a stick blender. Add three tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, a grind of white pepper, a pinch of salt. Blend, trickling in the warm vegetable stock, until you have a smooth, silky cream, fluid enough to spread but not liquid. If you prefer a rounder flavour, add a garlic clove blanched for a minute in boiling water. Taste and adjust the salt.
Courgettes ready (5 min)
Wash the courgettes, trim the ends and cut them into thin rounds of about three to four millimetres. Set them aside in a dry bowl. Do not salt them in advance, otherwise they release water and in the pan they stew instead of sauté.
The pan for the courgettes (1 min)
Heat a wide non-stick or iron pan over a medium-high heat with two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. Wait until the oil is hot but not smoking.
Sautéing the courgettes in curry (5-6 min)
Tip the courgettes into the hot pan in a single layer. Let them brown for a minute without moving them, then stir and sauté them over a lively heat for four to five minutes, until they are golden but still crisp at the core. At this point, and not before, sprinkle the level teaspoon of curry over the courgettes and stir vigorously for thirty seconds (the curry needs to touch the hot base to release its scent, but not to burn). Salt, switch off and take off the heat.
Draining the rice (2 min)
Once cooked, drain the rice in a colander. Do not rinse it under cold water: we serve it warm, not cold. Let it drain for a minute, then return it to the pan and cover it to keep it at temperature.
Layering the plate (3 min)
On a wide flat plate, spread a layer of cannellini bean cream about half a centimetre thick with the back of a spoon, leaving a clear border around it. Set a generous ladle of red rice in the centre, shaping a little mound. Distribute the curried courgettes on top, letting the rice and the cream beneath show through. Repeat for the other three portions.
Finishing and serving (1 min)
Tear the fresh herbs by hand (parsley, coriander or mint) and scatter them over the courgettes. Finish with a drizzle of raw extra-virgin olive oil and a grind of pepper if you like. Bring it to the table warm, it is the moment when the three layers read best on the palate.
Cooking a little further from home
Here on the Novara plain we sometimes cook a little further from home too, when we know what we are doing. This layered dish is not a traditional Piedmontese recipe, it is a modern recipe that works because every element does its job: the cannellini bean cream as a smooth base, the wholegrain red rice in the middle that holds the grain, the quick courgettes with a light curry on top. When it comes to the table warm, the three layers read one after the other on the palate, and the nutty flavour of the Cardinale makes itself felt between the sweetness of the bean and the scent of the spice.
Lumellogno · The Novara plain
Why Il Cardinale holds the three layers
For a layered dish like this, where the rice has to make itself felt beneath the courgette and above the cream, there is a variety of ours worth trying: our Cardinale. It is a pigmented red rice, wholegrain, and the red pericarp is not removed: that is what gives it its colour, its structure, its flavour of ancient cereal. We dry it at a low temperature in the drying plant at Lumellogno, and this slow process is the reason it holds up to cooking the English way without opening.
«The right cooking is thirty-five to forty minutes in boiling salted water, drained not absorbed. Under the tooth it stays firm. It is a rice suited to dishes that call for character, and this curry-cannellini-courgette is one of the ones that shows it off best.» From our kitchen in Lumellogno
The supply chain is closed, with ISO 9001 certified production: from the seed to the milled grain in our rice mill on the Novara plain. With layered dishes the difference is felt at the first mouthful: the grain stays separate even after the thirty-five minutes of boiling, it does not release starch onto the cannellini bean cream, and it brings a toasted note of hazelnut that pairs beautifully with the sweetness of the bean and the scent of the light curry.
Questions about red rice with curry and cannellini beans
Which red rice should I use for this recipe?
Can I prepare the dish in advance?
Can it be served cold like a rice salad?
Suggested Pairing
With this layered vegan dish, scented with a light curry, we like fresh, mineral whites able to hold up to the cannellini bean cream without covering the spice. We happily open an Erbaluce di Caluso, just beyond our borders, or a Vermentino di Liguria, with a briny freshness that balances the creaminess of the bean.
For those who prefer to stay in Piedmont, a young Timorasso dei Colli Tortonesi works well, with its dry structure and long minerality. Avoid full-bodied reds and very aromatic whites: the first cover the dish, the second clash with the curry.
Riso Rosso Cardinale Acqua e Sole
Our wholegrain red rice, grown at Lumellogno and processed in our rice mill on the Novara plain. Whole red pericarp, a clean hazelnut flavour, low-temperature drying to keep the surface starch stable. The right variety for layered dishes: it holds up to cooking the English way without opening, stays separate, and does not turn the cannellini bean cream beneath it floury.
Take Il Cardinale homeOriginal Acqua e Sole recipe, from our kitchen in Lumellogno.