Homemade cheese baked rice

As mentioned, we attempted to make cheese baked rice over National Day and I said I would post the recipe if I could improve on it. Well, I'm happy to announce that our second attempt last week turned out significantly better than the inaugural try so here's the recipe!

It must appear that eat lots of dishes with a cheese topping. Guilty as charged - we do love our rich, sticky, gooey mozzarella crusts! Cheese baked rice is another one of those popular gratin dishes that you find in abundance at cafes these days. It's an easy, one-dish meal and although we use seafood, you can easily substitute it with chicken, sausage, mushrooms or whatever you like.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked white rice
30g butter
30g plain flour
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1 fish stock cube (I use Knorr)
40g white fish fillet, diced
6 large prawns, peeled and de-veined, diced
6 tbps tomato pasta sauce (Prego works well)
½ cup parmesan or gouda cheese, greated
½ cup mozzarella cheese, grated

Cheese Baked Rice

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
2. In a saucepan, melt butter, then add flour and stir to form a smooth paste.
3. Add milk gradually, stirring constantly with a whisk to form a smooth white sauce.
4. Add water and fish stock cube, stir well for about 8 mins, until mixture thickens.
5. Add rice, fish and prawns to the white sauce and mix well. Set aside.
6. Cover the base of a baking dish with the pasta sauce and spread evenly.
7. Transfer rice mixture to the baking dish
8. Sprinkle both cheeses evenly on top of rice mixture.
9. Bake for 30mins or until top is golden and mixture is bubbling.

I think I baked it a little too long, so the top was overly brown. It didn't affect the taste though, the inside was sufficiently creamy and the top crisp, just the way we like it.