Holiday side dish recipe: Sicilian Rice

This is a dish my family always had for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. It is so comforting and satisfying, I've made three batches since Election Day. I make a big batch and reheat portions of it for lunch or dinner during the week as it's one of those dishes that's actually better reheated, so you can make it ahead and refrigerate.

Ingredients:

3 cups of dry white rice (No Basmati or anything fancy. Just plain white rice.)
6 cups of water
22 ounces ground pork
24 ounces marinara sauce (I use Ragu. Any non-chunky kind will do.)
3 tablespoons fennel seed
1.5 tablespoons red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon garlic powder (I grind freeze-dried garlic flakes with a mortar and pestle but any garlic powder will do)
4 boiled eggs, sliced
1 raw egg, beaten
A few tablespoons of olive oil.

Mix the ground pork, fennel seed, red pepper flakes and garlic powder thoroughly. You've essentially made hot Italian sausage meat.
Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan and add the pork mixture, breaking it into bit-size crumbles, and cook until slightly browned.
Add the marinara sauce and simmer, covered, on "low" while you prepare the rice.

Bring the water to a boil in a pot large enough for twice as much rice. Add the dry rice and stir. Reduce heat to "low" and simmer, slightly covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. You don't want the rice coming out too wet.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees on "bake".

Once the rice is done, add the sauce and pork mixture, mixing thoroughly until it's all orange with no white or red patches.

In a casserole dish, add the rice mixture in layers with boiled-egg slices spaced out in the center of each layer and pressed firmly into the rice. The boiled-egg slices should not touch the sides and are not added to the top. Think of them as little surprises distributed throughout rice. I use a long Pyrex dish and end up with two boiled-egg layers. Using a spatula, make sure the top is smooth and flat. Add the beaten egg and spread it out evenly, avoiding pooling. It helps that the mixture is already hot and will start to congeal the egg.

Place the dish in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the edges are browned and there's no bubbling up to the surface. Let it rest a few minutes before serving.

The dominant flavor is fennel seed, along with red pepper, the heat of which is somewhat mitigated by the browning and the rice.