Monday 21 December 2015

Beetroot Risotto

     Happy holidays friends! I hope everyone is catching up on their much needed holiday baking! I know I have a long list of all my holiday favourites. But when planning and cooking for Christmas dinner is clouding you brain, it can be hard to think of what to make tonight, or tomorrow night for that matter. So I thought I'd give you a little help.


     I created this recipe as part of a project for one my nutrition courses, Thought that I might as well share it with you as well. This is a perfect winter risotto as it features beets, one of my favourite winter root vegetables. This is a pretty classic risotto. Make sure you have a real flavorful broth as this is what is really going to season your dish. 


Serves: 4 approximately a 1.5 cup portion
Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 4 cups (1 L) vegetable stock
  • 2 Tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
  • 1 onion (100 g), finely chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 350g (12 oz) fresh beetroot, peeled and diced
  • 1 cup risotto rice
  • ¼ cup (60 ml) white wine
  • 2 Tbsp (30g) margarine
  • ½ Lemon, juiced or 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp thyme leaves, plus a couple leaves to garnish
  •  Black Pepper, to serve
  • 1 lemons, sliced into 6 wedges each, for garnish

Preparation

  1. Heat the stock in a saucepan until almost boiling, then reduce heat until barely simmering to keep it hot.
  2. Meanwhile, gather all other ingredients. Chop onions, mince garlic, peel, wash and dice beets, wash and de-stem thyme and wash and cut lemons.
  3. Heat the oil in a large pan. Sauté the onion, garlic and beetroot until softened (about 6-8 minutes). Add the rice and stir well until the grains are well coated and glistening.
  4. Pour in the wine, stir. One absorbed add a ladleful of hot stock. Simmer, stirring all the time until it has almost all been absorbed, then add more broth. Continue to add the stock at intervals and cook as before until the rice is tender but firm.
  5. Add the margarine and lemon juice and thyme leaves and stir gently.
  6. Plate with a wedge of lemon and freshly ground black pepper.