Baked rice with chicken and cheese

Method

1. Make fluffy white rice: boil 750 ml of water in a kettle. In a medium pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over low heat and soften ½ onion, finely chopped, with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes; add 300 g of long-grain rice and stir for 1 minute until every grain is coated. Pour in the boiling water, add 1 teaspoon of salt, stir once and cook uncovered over medium heat until the water drops to the level of the rice (about 7 minutes). Lower the heat, half-cover and cook 8 minutes more until dry; turn off the heat, keep covered for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork.
2. Poach the chicken breast in water with the bay leaf and 1 teaspoon of salt, 15 to 18 minutes at a gentle simmer once boiling, until no pink remains in the centre; drain and shred. (With leftovers, use 750 g of cooked rice and 400 g of cooked chicken and go to step 3.)
3. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Chop the remaining onion and the garlic, dice the tomato and cut the ham into strips. In a wide pot over medium heat, heat the oil and cook the onion for 3 minutes, the garlic for 1 minute and the tomato for 2 minutes. Add the chicken, ham, peas and drained sweetcorn and cook for 3 minutes; season with salt and black pepper.
4. Turn off the heat and add the rice, cream, cream cheese and chopped parsley, mixing until everything is coated and creamy.
5. Grease an ovenproof dish of about 20 × 30 cm with the butter, spread in the rice, cover with the mozzarella and parmesan and bake for 20 minutes until golden.