Baked Ham And Cheese Rice Casserole

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
• 4 tablespoons butter (plus more for rice and baking dish)
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup flour
• 6 ounces boiled ham, sliced thin and chopped
• 3/4 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 400.
• 2 fill a pot with 3 qts of water and bring to a boil; add rice and stir well.
• 3 cook covered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is cooked but still firm to the bite.
• 4 drain and transfer to a mixing bowl. toss the rice with a bit of butter to prevent grains from sticking together.
• 5 while the rice is cooking, make a bechamel sauce. heat the milk till you can see steam rising (do not boil). melt the 4 t butter in a heavy saucepan over medium low heat.
• 6 add the flour and whisk till smooth. add the hot milk a few tablespoons at a time at first, whisking till mixture is smooth before adding more milk.
• 7 it will likely be very thick at first, but will become thinner as you whisk in more milk. as it thins, you can mix in more milk at a time.
• 8 cook, whisking constantly over medium low heat till sauce thickly coats the whisk. season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
• 9 pour the bechamel sauce over the rice, reserving a few spoonfuls for the top of the casserole. add the ham and all but 2 t of the parmigiano-reggiano.
• 10 mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• 11 butter the bottom and sides of a 2 1/2 qt baking dish that is about 3 1/2 inches deep.
• 12 pour in half the rice mixture. slice the mozzarella about 1/8 inch thick and layer the slices over the rice.
• 13 add the remaining rice mixture and smooth the surface with a spoon.
• 14 spread the remaining bechamel over the top and sprinkle with the remaining 2 t parmegiano-reggiano.
• 15 bake for 15 minutes. if after 15 minutes, the top is not speckled with brown, place the casserole under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, or till top begins to brown.
• 16 remove from the oven and allow to settle for about 5 minutes before serving.