I learnt to make Risotto the traditional way - The sautéing of rice till translucent, slowly adding hot stock, the stirring, the parmesan. It works, its delicious and that is how I have always done it. I recently found a simple recipe on BBC Good Food for oven baked and thought would give it a try.
This summer we have lovely beetroot growing in the garden and I usually roast it in tin foil with garlic and use it in hummus or salads but had always fancied making a beetroot risotto and marvel at that colour!
So I added the pureed roasted beetroot to this simple recipe and it turned out to be delicious. If you don't want bright pink risotto then you could just cook the basic recipe and add crispy bacon? Or mushrooms? Or whatever extras that tickle your fancy.
Baked Risotto
1 onion finely chopped
25g butter
300g risotto rice (Arborio)
half glass wine (I used red for the beetroot version to give some colour)
700 hot chicken or vegetable stock
50g grated parmesan
Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C conventional. Fry diced onion in the butter in an oven proof pan
or casserole dish for 3-5 mins until golden and soft. Pour over wine if using and cook for 2 mins until absorbed. Tip in the rice and mix well until coated.
Add the hot stock, then give the rice a quick stir. Cover with a tightly fitting lid and
bake for about 15 until nearly cooked.
This is when I added the pureed beetroot and then popped back in the oven for
another 3-4 mins to heat through.
When cooked stir through most of the parmesan season with salt and pepper and serve sprinkled with the remainder of cheese.
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