Tuna Rice Pie

This tasty dish made an appearance at a recent girls lunch I hosted. I wanted something relatively light, that I could make in advance, and well it fit the bill just perfectly.

Cooked rice, tuna, sundried tomatoes, onion, baby bocconcini, parmesan, parsley, eggs and spinach.

Stirred until combined…

Then pressed into a greased springform cake tin.

Baked for ***, until golden brown.

I served the pie on my cake stand, for it really was just like a little savoury cake.

And despite being so simple to put together, the flavours were delightful, and worked perfectly for a light ladies lunch.

We served the pie in slices, along with a fresh garden salad. The added bonus being that it was a large pie – so there were lots of leftovers for the next couple of days.

Delicious hot or cold, and you can make it with any ingredients you have on hand really.

Tuna Rice Pie (adapted from here)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 brown onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1.5 cups aborio rice

670ml chicken stock

425g can tuna in water, drained, flaked

200g sun-dried tomatoes, drained, finely chopped

200g baby bocconcini cheese, drained, roughly chopped

50g parmesan cheese, finely grated

100g baby spinach leaves, shredded

handful chopped parsley

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring often, for 7 to 8 minutes or until onion is soft. Increase heat to high and add rice. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in stock. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease and line base of a round springform pan. Add tuna, tomato, bocconcini, parmesan, spinach, parsley and egg to cooled rice mixture. Mix until well combined.
3. Press rice mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until set and crisp around the edges. Stand in pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to loosen pie.
4. Cut into wedges to serve.

What about you? Do you have a favourite ‘light’ lunch dish?