Risotto primavera
In Italy, risotto is ‘slow food’ and you should not try to hurry it along – this dish needs to be cooked very gently and slowly and will taste all the better for it. A perfect risotto should neither be soft and mushy nor crunchy – the rice should be comfortingly tender, moist and plump, but still retaining a little ‘bite’.
Preparation: 15 minutes, cooking: 25 minutes, serves: two.
Per serving: 278 calories, 12g protein, 32g carbs and 9g fat.
Ingredients
300ml (half a pint ) hot vegetable stock or LighterLife Savoury Stock; one onion, finely chopped; one garlic clove, crushed; 115g (4oz ) Arborio or risotto rice; half a glass of dry or medium dry white wine (optional ); pinch of saffron (powdered or threads ); freshly ground black pepper; two small courgettes, sliced; 60g (2oz ) baby asparagus; 60g (2oz ) shelled peas or mangetout; four tablespoons chopped parsley; one tablespoon low-fat crème fraîche; two tablespoons coarsely grated Parmesan cheese; cherry tomatoes on the vine, to serve.
Method
Heat three tablespoons stock in a heavy-based frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook over a low heat for five minutes, until softened.
Stir in the rice and cook for one minute, until the grains are glistening. Add the white wine (if using ) and turn up the heat. Let the mixture bubble away until all the wine has evaporated.
Add a little of the remaining hot stock, together with the saffron and black pepper, and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has been absorbed. Keep adding more stock in this way, a little at a time, until the rice is tender and creamy – this takes 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile cook the courgettes, asparagus, and peas or mangetout in boiling water for two to three minutes. Drain well and stir gently into the risotto about five minutes before the end of cooking time. The vegetables will continue to cook in the heat of the rice.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chopped parsley and crème fraîche. Season to taste with more black pepper. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately with a crisp salad or some grilled cherry tomatoes on the vine.
Tips
You need to use risotto rice for this recipe – basmati or long-grain rice will not work as they do not soften to the same tenderness and velvety texture.
If fresh peas are out of season, add a handful of frozen ones instead. You can also flavour the risotto with chopped mint instead of parsley. Or make a mushroom risotto with fresh chestnut or wild mushrooms or some dried porcini, which has been soaked first in boiling water. Cook the mushrooms with the onion and garlic before adding the rice.
Other vegetables that work well in risotto include butternut squash, leeks, sweet peppers and plum tomatoes.
If you are not a vegetarian, how about making a seafood risotto with prawns, scallops, mussels, and squid – or use frozen fruits de mer.
To contact your local Lighter Life counsellor phone Margaret Fahy, Innovation House, Chapel Lane, Claremorris on 094 937 7885.
