Brown Butter Rice with Pasta and Lemon

Photo by:

Jonathan Lovekin

"Ottolenghi SIMPLE TOO” Text copyright © 2026 by Yotam Ottolenghi and Verena Lochmuller. Photographs except as noted copyright © 2026 by Jonathan Lovekin. Photographs on pages 24, 82, 116, 199, 200, and 268 copyright © 2026 by Verena Lochmuller. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Cooking rice and pasta together in the same pan is the equivalent of wearing slippers while cozying up on the sofa. Add the melted butter and that’s the fluffy blanket included. Rice is the answer to almost any question starting with, “What should I cook?” Whether it’s the time of day, your mood, the season, or what to serve with so-and-so. This one will shine alongside our Smoky Tomato and Feta Shrimp, but you can also eat it as it is with some Greek yogurt.

If you have the time, rinse then soak your rice for 30 minutes (or overnight, even) before cooking—it will result in a fluffier grain.

Mafalda corta—the wavy, ribbon-like pasta—is our preferred shape here, but if you can’t find it, use orzo or vermicelli.

Ingredients

6 tbsp/85g unsalted butter
3½ oz/100g mafalda corta pasta (or orzo or vermicelli)
1 onion, finely chopped (1 cup/150g)
2 bay leaves
1 lemon, zest thinly shaved to get 4 strips, wedges to serve
1 Wild Cinnamon Quill
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup/200g basmati rice, rinsed and drained
1–2 preserved lemons, seeds removed, finely chopped (2 tbsp/30g)
2 ¾ cups/600 ml boiling water
fine sea salt and Aranya Black Pepper

Methods

Put the butter into a large sauté pan on medium heat. When it starts to foam, add the pasta and cook for about 5 minutes, until browned and smelling nutty. Decrease the heat to medium, add the onion, bay leaves, lemon strips, cinnamon, and garlic, and cook for 8–10 minutes, until golden.
Add the rice, preserved lemon, the boiling water, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Bring to a simmer, then decrease the heat to low and cook, tightly covered, for 25 minutes, until all the liquid has been absorbed. Take off the heat and allow to steam, covered, for 10 minutes.
Fluff the rice with a fork and serve with a squeeze of lemon juice.