Deep dish pizza rice revisited

I first made my Dutch oven deep dish pizza rice on a camping trip to the North California coast in July 2006. My then 14-year-old son Jacob devoured two hefty helpings as he mumbled "This is good!" over and over.

Now that he's 18 and growing. He asked for "that pizza stuff" several times this week on our camping trip to South Lake Tahoe. I prepared the dish in a 10-inch Dutch oven for the second time last night.

Here's my revised recipe. I didn't change too much from the original recipe that was posted on July 26, 2010. I added half of a 3-ounce bag of baby spinach and used prepared pizza sauce in place of pesto.

Heat 1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 10-inch Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and sweat until translucent.

Add rice and stir to coat with oil. Fry rice while stirring frequently until it takes on a light-brown color. Add 4 ounces each pre-cooked Italian sausage and peperoni. Cut the peperoni into quarters or chop as desired. Reserve 13 peperoni slices for the final step.

Add about 3 ounces of washed and dried baby spinach to the rice. Continue cooking for several minutes to wilt the rice. Many other green vegetables will work in place of spinach. I'd like to try broccoli rabe, cut into 2-inch pieces next time.

My three-year-old granddaughter didn't flinch at the sight of cooked spinach last night! She matched her uncle bite-for-bite (adjusted for age, of course!).

Combine 2-1/2 cups chicken stock, 1/2-cup prepared pizza sauce and 1 teaspoon dried oregano. Pour into rice mixture and stir. Cover with lid. Bake 20 minutes or until rice is done. Use coals for approximately 350 degrees (5 charcoal briquettes under the oven and 16 on lid in temperate weather).

When done, spread 1-1/2 cups shredded cheese over the rice. Arrange the reserved 13 peperoni slices over the rice. Return lid to oven and continue baking until cheese is melted.

Enjoy! Serves a family of four to six. Multiply the recipe one and one-half times for a 12-inch Dutch oven.

To Lib: Use a three or four-quart home Dutch oven for the casserole. Sweat onions on the burner, saute rice, wilt spinach, then add pizza sauce and stock and bring to a boil. Cover and place in a 350-degree oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Top with cheese and peperoni and finish in oven.