• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • about Dom in the Kitchen
  • contact me
  • pr & demo’s
  • Private Dining

Dom in the Kitchen Homepage

Recipes from my Lincolnshire kitchen

  • Home
  • Chicken Thighs
  • Bread
  • Cakes
  • Eggs
  • Vegetarian
  • Everything else

pea and courgette risotto

1 April 2020 by Dominic Franks

risotto

A risotto is the most basic of peasant food, originally from the Lombardy region in Italy, an area that has been in the media rather a lot recently for all the wrong reasons and so I wanted to celebrate it for something rather fabulous instead. This leek and courgette risotto is by no means traditional but it has the essence and simplicity of the original and uses the vegetables I had in the fridge.  Much like all my recipes at the moment you can use any selection of veg and you can find a number of different risotto recipes here on my blog.

A lot of people moan about how time consuming a risotto is; the constant adding of stock, the repetitive stirring but this is actually what I love about a risotto.  There’s something wonderfully calming about standing there and creating something so beautiful.  It’s actually such a simple thing to make but it tastes so good you’ll wonder why you never made it before!

risotto

  • 1 medium onion – finely chopped
  • 1 stick of celery – finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic – crushed
  • fresh thyme
  • 1 large courgette – finely grated
  • 175g risotto rice
  • 1 glass of white wine
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • 100g frozen peas
  • 30g parmesan, strong cheddar or other hard cheese

I’m using my 32inch shallow cast-iron casserole dish, which I place on a medium hob with a little butter and olive oil.  Once this becomes warm add the onions and celery and let them sweat gently for about 5 minutes until they begin to soften.

Add the garlic and some fresh herbs.  Thyme works really well here.  Stir together will a little salt and pepper and then add the grated courgette.  It will seemingly soak up the juices in the pan but after about 3 minutes everything will become soft again and then will start to release their juices.  Let its simmer for a couple more minutes and then add the rice and stir it all together well and let the rice soak in the rest of the veg.

Pour in a generous glass of wine and stir gently until the wine is all but absorbed. (The dish won’t be dry as such, it will always be relatively wet but you should be able to see large clear tracks of the bottom of the dish as you drag your spoon through and this is when you know it’s time to add more liquid.)

Start pouring the stock into your risotto a ladle-full at a time, stirring gently between each pour until the liquid is absorbed into the rice, again it won’t be a dry dish, the rice will begin the plump up and the whole dish should be wonderfully creamy and rather green!

Keep adding stock and stirring for at least 20 minutes, gently, calmly until either the rice is ready or thee stock is used.  It’s possible you won’t use all of your stock.  I like my risotto quite wet but others prefer it dryer.  Different rice acts in different ways.  There’s no right or wrong.

Take the pan off the heat and stir the peas and cheese in, then cover with the lid and let it rest for 5 mins before serving

risotto

eat and of course, enjoy!

Share this post:

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on E-mail

Filed Under: Everything else Tagged With: courgette risotto, easy dishes, one pot meal, rice, risotto, store cupboard

Previous Post: « leftover cauliflower mash and red onion patties
Next Post: rosemary focaccia »

Reader Interactions

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Comments

  1. Denise Tyrrell says

    2 April 2020 at 1:14 am

    Who would moan these days about how long it takes to cook something?? Stirring is very meditative. Love that you use what’ is in the fridge 😷stay safe.

    • Dominic Franks says

      3 April 2020 at 12:23 pm

      I know, this is an amazing time to do all the things we never had the chance to do. Stay safe you too!

Primary Sidebar

About Dom In The Kitchen

My name is Dominic, I am a cook, food writer and creative event producer. I write the food blog Dom In The Kitchen and also write a monthly recipe column for Lincolnshire Life Magazine and Good Taste Magazine. I also run creative event production company The Persuaders, producing global events for brands since 1997. I am based both in the small village of Belleau in Lincolnshire and the smaller village of London! Read More…

Subscribe

Get new posts by email:
Powered by follow.it
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Archives

Tweets by @DomInTheKitchen

as featured in Lincolnshire Life Magazine

Lincolnshire Life

creatively managed by

The Persuagers
Belleau Cottage

Footer

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.

&copy 2010 - 2021 | All rights reserved | Website by Peckish Digital