Easy Cheesy Rice with the InstantPot

Using the InstantPot, I've been making easy "cheesy rice pie" side dishes. The process is what's important here, so adjust to taste.

1. Two cups rice, four cups water
• This will depend on the ratio that come with your rice instructions.
• I use a parboiled rice that indicates a 1:2 rice-to-water ratio so that's what I use.
• For a 8-quart InstantPot, the thickness of the rice "slices" will be around 1.5 inches. Adjust the rice for desired thickness.
2. One teaspoon salt
• This is optional. If you are going to eat it mostly straight instead of a side dish, you probably want to flavour the rice a bit.
• If you are going to use a lot more cheese, you can probably leave this out.
3. Cook the rice normally in the InstantPot.
4. When the rice is done, release the steam safely with the valve and while the rice is still steaming hot, add:
• A layer of cheese on top. I like to use a flavourful cheese that melts easily, such as one that already has herbs or other flavouring mixed in.
• If you don't have that, you can add seasoning either below or on top of the cheese layer. In the picture above I added some cayenne powder as an afterthought for some heat and bite.
5. Close the lid and let the remaining heat and steam melt the cheese. Check in after a few minutes.
6. Now it's ready to slice and plate.
• I have a long plastic spatula / spoon that can easily reach down to the bottom of my 8-quart. With a little luck you can scoop out a reasonably presentable slice for plating to guests.
• If you want to add even more cheese, first stir in the cheese, pat down the rice, then add another layer and let the steam melt it.
• We kept the layer of rice fairly thin so that we don't have to bother with this. At less than two inches, one good layer of cheese on top should be enough flavour for every bite.
• You may need to turn the InstantPot back on to Keep Warm, depending on how much heat has been lost.

If you're lazy, just take slices out of the InstantPot as needed. When you're out of slices, instead of wasting a lot of water cleaning it out, just make some soup to loosen any remaining rice and scrape down the sides before rinsing out the pot.