1949 Spanish Rice

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 lb bacon (regular, not thick cut!)
• 1 spanish onion, chopped very fine
• 1 green pepper, chopped very fine
• 2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, do not drain (with green pepper, celery, and onion)
• 6 cups cooked rice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese (mild-type and shredded)

Recipe

• 1 heat oven to 350 degrees.
• 2 cook rice; reserve in large 6 quart bowl. cover so it does not dry out.
• 3 grease a 4 quart casserole dish, set aside.
• 4 fry bacon until crisp; cool and crumble into pieces the size of your thumb nail. reserve to add back into mixture.
• 5 cook onion and green pepper in reserved bacon fat; cook slowly until onion is soft and yellow. add cans of tomatoes and heat until simmering. cover.
• 6 add crumbled bacon, salt and pepper to the reserved rice mixture, stirring well to combine.
• 7 pour hot onion, pepper and tomato mixture into rice/bacon. stir well to combine.
• 8 place mixture in prepared casserole dish. sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese on top.
• 9 bake for 30 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly browned and mixture is bubbly. remove from oven. allow to set for 10 minutes before serving.
• 10 this freezes exceptionally well! cut into portions; freeze. heat on medium in microwave for 3-5 minutes.