Rinse the long grain rice in a fine mesh strainer under running water. This step will help remove the extra starch and rice powder. This is not a mandatory step, and you can skip it, as long as you ensure you toast the rice very well before adding the cooking water.

Add the olive oil to a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat it up on medium heat. Once warm, add the finely chopped onions, minced garlic and a little salt. The salt will help speed up the softening process of the onion by removing the water from it.

Sautee unit the onions turn translucent and the raw smell of garlic has gone. This will take approximately 4-5 minutes.

Next, add the rinsed rice, dried herbs and fresh rosemary to the saucepan. Increase the heat to high and toast until the rice changes color and its edges turn translucent too. This step will take approximately 3 minutes, and the aroma of the herbs will be released in the oil.

Now add the water to the pan and mix well.

As soon as the water boils, cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and reduce the heat to low, keeping the water on a very light simmer. If necessary, move the pan to a smaller hob.

From this moment, do not remove the lid until the cooking process is completed.

Cook the herb rice for 12 minutes.

Once cooked, switch off the heat and allow the rice to rest for 10 minutes.

Finally, remove the lid from the saucepan and add the fresh parsley and the lemon juice.

Fluff and mix the herb rice pilaf using a fork and serve while still hot. Enjoy!