Andys Kitchen Blog

Do you ever have days where you sit wondering what you can cook that’s different at the weekend when you have plenty of time, well recently I was given some lovely fresh beetroot, and instead of just boiling it up and eating it straight away, I thought I would try something different.

I have been going through a risotto obsession lately, and my favourite up until now is a chicken and prawn one (I will post the recipe up one day), I started dreaming up ways of using up the beetroot and decided to try a risotto.

I can honestly say that this is fantastic, and I urge you to try it. Im sure that you will be pleasantly surprised.

Ingredients for 2 people:

250g Arborio rice

1 litre of chicken stock either homemade or use a cube but check your seasoning if using a cube as they can be quite salty. You may not need all of this but I like my risotto loose.

1 medium size onion diced

1 medium/large sized beetroot, cooked and peeled

1 clove of garlic chopped

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Feta cheese

Salt & pepper

Olive oil

Firstly take your cooked beetroot and blitz in a food processor to a puree, adding the balsamic vinegar a drop at a time, until the beetroot is nice and pureed but not to wet.

Next lightly fry the onion in the olive oil until it is translucent, and then put the garlic in and cook for 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir until all of the grains have taken on the oil.

Add a ladle off the stock and stir over a medium heat until all of the stock has been absorbed and then add another ladle of stock, keep repeating this process until the rice is nice and creamy, but still firm, keep tasting and checking the seasoning.

Once the rice has reached the right texture stir in the pureed beetroot and keep stirring for a further 2 mins, and again check the seasoning, and serve. Add crumbled feta cheese and enjoy