Baked Rice

It's been very very hot lately, making me tired & lazy to think of what to cook each weekday. Finally yesterday was cooler. Since I didn't go marketing in the morning, we have to make do with stuff in the freezer. An easy baked rice recipe that I got from Women's Weekly magazine crossed my mind.

Ingredients :

30g Butter
2 Cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 Cup mixed frozen vegetables
1/2 cup Button mushroom
1/2 cup Sliced ham
1/2 Cup Cream
2 Cups cooked rice
1 1/2 cups Pasta sauce
2 Cups mozzarella & cheddar cheese combination
1 Tbsp Italian herbs
salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in a pan, add garlic cook till fragrant. Add mixed vegetables, button mushrooms & ham, stir until heated through. Add cream, herbs, salt & pepper to taste, mix well. Add rice to the pan & toss well, transfer rice mixture to a casserole dish & flatten the top with thye back of a spoon. Spread pasta sauce over the top evenly & spread the cheese over the sauce. Bake in a preheated oven of 190C for 20 mins or until cheese is bubbly & brown.

* I baked the rice in a 9" glass pie pan & the pasta sauce is home-made. Instead of the Italian herbs mentioned in the recipe, I've used Herbes de Provence that I got from Jason's Supermarket, loved the lavender in it.