Blue Cheese Rice with Cannellini Beans

This is another long-standing recipe cooked in my house, and pre-dates my conversion to vegetarianism (5 years and counting!). It's from a very old Readers Digest recipe book (the same one that my pasta with black beans and kale recipe came from) and its title in that is 'Italian cheese and rice' because it uses Gorgonzola, but in my house, this is known as 'blue cheese rice thing' because we use any blue cheese we fancy. I have no idea why Pete and I feel the need to call it 'thing' but the name seems to have stuck. Soft blue cheeses such as danish blue or gorgonzola work very well, but we usually use Stilton which is cheaper and more pungent, and what can I say? We're cheapskates who like strong tasting cheese...

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups rice (approx 370g)
4 cups vegetable stock (approx 900ml)
300g green beans (fresh or frozen; I use frozen)
150g Stilton/Gorgonzola/Other blue cheese, coarsely crumbled
1 x 400g tin of cannellini beans (approx 200g drained)
115ml cream (can substitute for milk to lower fat content)
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried parlsey
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Fry onion and garlic in oil until softened.

2. Add rice and green beans and stir for one minute or so, to coat the rice in oil.

3. Add parsley, basil, and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover pan and simmer for 20 minutes until rice is cooked.

4. Stir in cheese, milk/cream, and cannellini beans. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring frequently to distribute the cheese evenly.