Pea, spinach and parmesan risotto

This is another risotto dish that is so easy to cook, tastes great and can be served for a family meat-free Monday dinner(!) or for friends invited for dinner – I’ve certainly served this risotto as part of an Italian inspired dinner when brother-in-law Scott and his wife Carolyn came to dinner

Once again this is not a complicated risotto recipe requiring stock to be added as the risotto cooks – all the stock goes in at once, too easy!

This recipe is based on an Annabel Langbein recipe that I’ve slightly tweaked. It looks amazing as it ends up quite green and is topped with lots of parmesan and some micro herbs. This is ideal to serve all year round, and especially good in spring

Ingredients

3 tbs butter

1 tbs olive oil

6 cups of vegetable stock, warm (a 1 litre Campbell’s stock is 4 cups)

2 medium onions, finely chopped  

1 clove garlic, crushed

½ to 1 cup white wine – your call!

4 good handfuls of baby spinach leaves

2 cups thawed frozen baby peas

½ packet long stemmed broccolini, roughly cut into 2 cm pieces

2 cups Arborio rice or other suitable risotto rice (I simply use one full packet of Delmaine Arborio which is 500gms)

2 cups grated Parmesan

Salt and cracked pepper to taste

Handful of micro herbs (for garnish)- optional if you cannot source them. You could use rocket leaves

 Cooking instructions

1 Melt two tablespoons of butter and half a tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-low heat in a pan and cook onion and garlic over a low-medium heat until softened but not browned -approx. 8 minutes

2 Add the rice and stir on high heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly (called "toasting"). If using wine, add at the end and then let evaporate

3 Add all the simmering stock all at once and bring back to the boil.

4 Turn down to simmer, cover and cook for 15 - 18 mins - check and gently stir once or twice during this time

5 While the risotto is cooking, steam the broccolini for 3 minutes, drain and run under the cold tap to refreshen

6 Place spinach and peas in a bowl, cover with boiling water and allow to stand for 2 minutes. Drain and transfer to a food processor together with the broccolini and puree in the bowl – you could also use a hand wand mixer. You don’t have to totally puree this down as it’s nice to keep a bit of texture

7 Add the puree to the risotto together with 1 cup of parmesan after the risotto is cooked and carefully mix through– it should still be slightly “wet”/sloppy. To give the risotto a slight “glaze”, you can finish off the dish by gently adding the balance of butter and oil

8 Adjust seasoning and serve onto plates or bowls– top with some micro herbs or rocket with the second cup of parmesan on the dining table to add if desired!

 Serve either by itself or with a simple salad – my favourite is rocket with shaved parmesan

Serves 6-8