Baked rice with confit tomatoes and garlic from Ottolenghi Simple (page 174) by Yotam Ottolenghi

Ingredients

cinnamon sticks
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thyme
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Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Accompaniments: Brussels sprouts with burnt butter and black garlic; Carrot salad with yoghurt and cinnamon; Chicken Marbella

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

mel_w8rmgp on April 27, 2026

Such a great go-to for dinner with friends. Goes well with fish or meat.
MokumChefs on April 21, 2026

Excellent dish, really rich and flavoursome. Rice nice and juicy. Easy to make. Peeling garlic is the most work. I made some extra vegetables on the side.
Crisrose on April 07, 2026

Great basic recipe that I’ve cooked many times and succesfully adapted slightly each time depending on what I have to use.
michalow on January 29, 2024

Outstanding reward for effort ratio on this one. I cooked in a deep casserole, which worked just fine and allowed me to cut back on the oil. Depending on how this will be served, consider cutting back on tomatoes so they are more of an accent; here they are pretty prominent. I was short of cilantro and while I would welcome the full amount, it didn't feel like anything was missing.
Delys77 on February 27, 2023

We served this along with a roast chicken and it was a lovely dinner. My only quibble is that I think the flavour of the cinnamon was a bit too strong on the first day. The left overs were fine as it seemed to mellow, but if I was serving this again I would likely drop the cinnamon to 2 or 3 sticks. I will say that we aren't huge cinnamon fans so this is likely an us thing. I loved the flavour of the tomatoes and roasted alliums and the texture of the rice was lovely. Easy and tasty. I would also say that given the amount of veg in this you might be able to get away with this dish serving as both starch and vegetable.
Barb_N on January 01, 2023

I veered off road with this one. I needed to use some ‘vine on’ winter tomatoes, but also needed a main dish. After the rice was cooked I placed shrimp on top and popped it back in the oven for a couple minutes. I used brown rice so it required rinsing, soaking, extra water and extra time. Definitely worth it, I’ve made it twice in as many weeks. Another improv- I used preserved lemon and skipped the cinnamon.
ricki on April 17, 2022

Really good, pretty easy, and will make again. Used what we had on hand, so ½ the tomatoes and ? of the cilantro. Flavors blended together well, and the only element that stood out was the cinnamon (my Ceylon cinnamon sticks were very fresh). Depending on the accompanying dishes consider cutting back on that. Definitely cut back on the oil, because it was too rich for my taste.
KarinaFrancis on June 05, 2021

Yum! This turned out perfectly and was delicious. We halved the amount of tomatoes because they just aren’t in season at the moment. I soaked the rice and the ratios were still spot on. We made this to go with chicken marbella and it was a great match
mharriman on May 06, 2021

I used all of the ingredients but only had 9 ounces of (on the vine style) cherry tomatoes. That quantity difference didn’t seem to make a difference in the outcome— my rice turned out perfectly with the rice/ water ratio given. I did bake the rice part of the dish at 425 degrees instead of 450 because I was baking the chicken at the same time. The most time consuming part of the prep for me wasn’t peeling the garlic cloves, but picking off the thyme leaves to make 3T. Even though that was a bit of a chore, I’d use fresh thyme again since it did shine through in the dish. As others have noted, this is indeed great accompaniment for the chicken recipe the author recommends.
anya_sf on March 05, 2021

Campari tomatoes worked fine. I used dried thyme (less), fewer shallots and cilantro stems (all I had) and blanched the garlic to make peeling easier. Honestly, denuding that many cilantro stems was a pain and I'm not sure how much they added to the flavor, so I'd omit next time. Using the specified weights of unrinsed basmati rice and water, the dish turned out perfectly - a lovely side dish for baked chicken.
Tee.Tee on May 30, 2020

Quick and easy prep. Plenty of hands off time while it bakes in the oven. I cut the recipe in half. Next time I will use less water like the above posters. Maybe because I rinsed and soaked my rice.
Huongey on May 20, 2020

This is my boyfriend’s go-to rice dish now. He follows the recipe to a t and It comes out perfectly every time. The creamy garlic and roasted shallots is the best part. I didn’t find any problems with the tomatoes as others have mentioned.
katy1729 on August 20, 2019

19/08/2019. Made to accompany the Lentil & Aubergine stew. Made it in a pan on the stove because I was too lazy to use the oven only for this dish. It worked out fine (perhaps the oven version would be rather nicer) though the quantity of water recommended was too much. Will try again, using recipe's method, on another occasion.
Rutabaga on May 23, 2019

I really like how this rice turned out, especially the garlic and shallots, which were beautifully creamy after their time in the oven. I was lacking thyme and didn't have the full amount of tomatoes, but otherwise made it as written. The only downside is it takes a long time to bake, although there's little active work. I didn't find that the recipe called for too much water, but I also chose not to wash the rice because I was concerned that would throw the ratio off. Some of the tomato skins were a bit tough. Perhaps that is affected by the tomato type? I used a variety.
MelMM on February 06, 2019

2-4-2019 Cherry tomato skins got a bit tough. Amount of water called for is too much. The tomatoes are giving off water, so you don't need much. Max of 1 cup water per cup of rice. Basmati rice should be washed before cooking.