This is not your traditional Risotto. This is a traditional Italian Style Rice in the Oven or Riso al Forno. Recipe compliments of my dear mom a passionate and wonderful cook. And while you might think how does one make risotto in the oven, if it can be done, leave it up to an Italian to do it!
For the tomato sauce, in a large saucepan heat up the olive oil and brown the onions and garlic.
Toss in the veal and brown the veal. Salt and Pepper to taste. Add nutmeg and continue to brown veal. Add tomato paste and stir into coat all of the ground meet.
Add tomato puree and bring to boil. Add oregano and basil. The sauce will cook down and get thick, if necessary add ½ cup of water as you don't want your sauce to thick if the rice needs to finish cooking. Because rice or pasta that is not fully cooked will need moisture to finish cooking.
Bring down to a simmer and cook covered for about 20 minutes.
For the Rice
Place 8 cups of water in a large pot, on stove top on high and bring to a boil. Place rice into boiling water and add salt to taste. Reduce heat to medium. Continue to boil rice for about 20 minutes. The rice should be slightly cooked but hard. Do not over boil. Cook Rice as per package instructions. However, you need to take the rice out when it is al dente. (do not over cook)
Reserve about 1 cup of the rice water for the assembly. Drain rice and run under cold water to stop cooking. Place the rice in a large bowl. The rice should be cool to touch (Otherwise the egg wash will turn into scrambled eggs)
Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Lightly whisk to eggs together and pour into the bowl of rice. Mix well. (this is what will make your rice stick together).
Place about half of the sauce into the bowl with the rice. Mix well. Add half of the parmigiana cheese and half of the shredded mozzarella. Mix well
In a medium sized tray (9 x 8), place ½ cup of water and one scoop of the sauce. Pour half of the rice mixture in the tray. Spread half of the remaining sauce over rice and spread out with a spoon towards the outer edges. Sprinkle half of the remaining parmigiana cheese and half of the remaining shredded mozzarella. Chop the hard boiled eggs, and sprinkle half on top.
Pour the rest of the rice mixture on top. Spread the remaining sauce over rice and spread out with a spoon towards the outer edges. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese and the remaining shredded mozzarella. Top with the remaining chopped egg.
Bake at 350°F degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. You will know when it is done when a fork is easily inserted in the rice and the rice remains intact and their are fork holes where the fork was inserted. Once the rice is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it stand for about 15 minutes so that it sets and is easy to cut and serve.
Notes
Please, please let the rice cool down to room temperature. You can also run the rice under cold water. Trust the process!