Rice Pilaf

The side dish I chose for my Sunday dinner was a rice pilaf. I modeled it after this Emeril recipe, but forgot the saffron (I have it on hand too!), and ommitted the sausage. Another tweak was that I used the sweet Italian pepper that came in our SLO Veg box two weeks ago. I had frozen the peppers because we went out of town that week, but I am so glad I used one in this recipe. Nice sweet pepper flavor and it colored the rice to a nice light yellow like you would get from saffron.

Rice Pilaf

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/saffron-rice-with-chorizo-and-peas-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

1/4 pound linguica sausage, crumbled or finely diced
1 cup finely chopped yellow onions
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell peppers or a sweet Italian pepper 
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups long grain rice

1 cup vermichelli pasta
4 cups vegetable stock
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
1 cup green peas, thawed if frozen

Directions

In a large saucepan, cook the sausage over medium-high heat until browned and the fat is rendered. Add the onions and bell peppers, and cook, stirring, until very soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.

(*at this point I put the rice and vermichelli into the rice cooker, added the liquid and set it to cook, which is probably why I forgot saffron).

 Add the rice and vermichelli and cook, stirring, until opaque, about 1 minute. Add the stock, salt, and saffron, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until almost all the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Add the peas without stirring, re-cover and cook until all the water is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork.