Rachel Allen’s oven baked risotto with summer vegetables is a light, summer dish and unexpectedly easy to make
Ingredients
Serves 6, preparation time 40 minutes
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 250g peas, fresh or frozen
- 100g spinach (destalk if the leaves are large)
- 950ml vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed or grated
- Salt and pepper
- 350g risotto rice
- 150ml white wine
- 100g finely grated parmesan cheese
- 75g butter, cut in to cubes
- 12 stalks of asparagus, ends trimmed and cut in half lengthways
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Heat the olive oil in an oven-proof saucepan, add the peas and spinach and cook, stirring all the time, for 2 minutes until the spinach wilts. Add about 50ml of stock and puree in a blender or food processor. Set aside.
In the same saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil, add the onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and sweat over a gentle heat until soft but not coloured. Add the risotto rice and stir it around in the saucepan for a minute, then add the remaining stock and the wine. Stir and bring it up to the boil, cover with the lid and place in the preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until the rice is just cooked and all the liquid has been absorbed. Vigorously stir in the vegetable puree, parmesan and butter and set aside.
Bring a saucepan of water up to the boil, add a good pinch of salt and the asparagus. Boil for 2-3 minutes or until it is just tender, then drain. Serve the risotto in warm bowls with the asparagus arranged on top and sprinkled with the grated parmesan.
Recipe courtesy of Ecover. Find Ecover on Twitter @EcoverUK #EatClean or Faceb