Olive oil with rice: the easiest place to start

If you have just bought a bottle of extra virgin olive oil and are not sure where to begin, begin with rice. It is already on the table every day, and it shows the oil's flavour clearly without needing a new recipe.

The simplest version

Cook the rice as usual. When it is done and still hot, stir a teaspoon of olive oil through each portion with a pinch of salt. Fold gently so the grains stay intact.

The heat from the rice releases the oil's aroma, and its peppery edge softens. The result is rice with a slight sheen, a clean smell, and a flavour it did not have before.

After cooking, not during

Do not add olive oil to the water while the rice is cooking. The oil disperses into the water and most of it is lost, and the flavour you paid for breaks down under sustained heat.

Add it once the heat is off. The same rule applies to soup and porridge: the residual heat is enough to release the aroma, and not enough to destroy it.

Variations worth trying

• Rice with olive oil, salt and a squeeze of lime
• Rice with olive oil and garlic softened slowly until sweet
• Rice with olive oil and finely sliced spring onion
• Yesterday's cold rice, fried in olive oil over moderate heat
• Porridge with a teaspoon of olive oil stirred in before serving

Fried rice

Olive oil suits fried rice as long as you cook over moderate heat rather than a roaring flame. Home fried rice rarely needs the heat a restaurant wok uses, and olive oil holds up well.

If you cook over a very high flame and the oil starts to smoke, turn it down. Smoking oil gives the whole dish a bitter taste.

How much

A teaspoon per portion is plenty to start with. If this is new to you, begin with half a teaspoon — fresh olive oil tastes stronger than most people expect the first time.