HAM, TOMATO & ZUCCHINI RISOTTO

This risotto was created out of thin air during one day when I had a double shift at work. I raced home, napped for 30 minutes, then rushed around my kitchen like a mad woman throwing together something for dinner. Being exhausted as I was and scatter brained (as I frequently am), I cooked the rice first instead of letting it cook with the stock and other ingredients. Unexpectedly this little error made the dish taste even better, as the rice became particularly tender, however not too soft. I highly recommend that everyone try to make a risotto this way at least once. The tomato, zucchini and ham were a great combination and tasted even better for lunch the next day. NB: I make my risottos with brown rice as it is better for me than white risotto rice. Brown rice has a lower GI rating than white rice and is packed with proteins, calcium, magnesium, fibre and potassium. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup brown rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 red onion (60-80g), finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, diced 
• 1 cup salt-reduced vegetable stock 
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 500g (or 5 small) tomatoes, diced 
• 2 medium zucchini (around 250g), diced 
• 100g reduced-fat ham, roughly diced
• 40g reduced-fat feta, crumbled 
• Optional- fresh chopped chives and/or parsley, to serve 

COOKING 

1. Bring the rice and 2 cups of water to the boil, covered, then simmer for 15 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from the stove. 

2. Whilst the rice is cooking, prepare all the other ingredients. 

3. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium heat and cook the garlic and red onion, stirring for 2 minutes or until onion has softened. Add the vegetable stock, tomato paste, tomatoes, zucchini and cooked rice and bring to the boil, covered. Reduce the heat to the lowest and simmer for around 10 minutes or until the rice is very tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the ham, then remove from the heat. 

Divide the risotto into four servings and top with 1/4 of the feta cheese and the herbs, if using. 

Serves / 4 
Total Preparation time & Cooking time / approx. 35 minutes 

x Emily 

KALE & PROSCIUTTO RISOTTO

My blog has been a little quiet of late, due to some totally crazy renovations than myself, my fiancée Chris and his amazing parents have been involved in. But it will all be worth it when Chris & I move into our very first home at the end of October. With 14-15 hours of our day accounted for filled with work, renovating and travelling across Brisbane there has not been much, if any, time to cook. I have truly missed it. So much so that I ignored my tired body screaming at me to sit down last night and instead cooked three dinners so I would be able to blog about something other than how renovations are much more physically and emotionally draining that I had ever thought possible. Because who honestly wants to hear about that? Thanks to gourmet farmer Matthew Evans for the inspiration for this simple yet moreish recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 medium leek, white part only, finely chopped
• 2 long thin slices of prosciutto, finely chopped
• 2 cups (400g) arborio rice
• 1 medium bunch kale, stems removed, washed & roughly chopped
• 1.75 - 2 litres (7 - 8 cups) vegetable stock 
• sea salt & pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

COOKING 

1. Heat coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the leek and prosciutto and cook, stirring regularly, for 3-4 minutes or until the leek is soft but not burnt. Add the rice and kale and stir well until combined. 

2. Add the vegetable stock one ladleful or 1/2 cup at a time to the pan, making sure to stir the risotto constantly and only add another ladleful when the stock in the pan has been completely absorbed. When all the stock has been absorbed by the rice, taste the rice to see if it is tender. If it is not, add a splash of water and continue to stir, taste-testing the rice again when the water has been absorbed. If / when the rice is tender,  stir in the sea salt & pepper. Serve warm, sprinkled with basil. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 12 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 30 minutes 

x Emily 

LEMON PEPPER RISOTTO with CALAMARI & BABY SPINACH

Another Coles food magazine recipe. I have never cooked with calamari before as I tend to not be too adventurous with food from the sea. I just think of it as unknown territory. But I put on my beautiful matryoshka (Russian doll) apron this afternoon and felt brave, therefore I decided to give calamari a try. It’s common knowledge that lemon and seafood go well together and this recipe is proof of that. If you love lots of lemon with your seafood, add more than 1 tablespoons of lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Risotto can sometimes be bland, so a good sea salt & black ground pepper are a necessity here. I was lacking fresh herbs in my kitchen today, but some fresh finely chopped parsley, basil or dill would go nicely stirred into this risotto at the step 4 stage. All in all, a very satisfying ending for my first calamari cook off.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups vegetable stock, preferably Massel brand 
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 3 large garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1/2 a brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 3/4 cups arborio rice 
• 1/2 dry white wine 
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest 
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning 
• 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 250g cleaned calamari rings, cleaned & ready to cook (can be frozen as long as they are thawed)
• 25g crumbled goats cheese, finely grated sheep's pecorino cheese or finely grated parmesan
• a generous handful of baby spinach, washed, drained & roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 

COOKING 

1. Heat coconut oil in a large deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic, stirring for one minute or until transparent. Add onion and cook for 1-2 minutes or until just softened. Add rice and stir well to coat. Add the wine and stir until it has evaporated, then stir in the lemon zest, lemon pepper seasoning and dried basil. 

2. Meanwhile, combine stock and 3 cups water and cover to keep warm. After step one reduce heat to a medium simmer and add 1 cup of hot stock and water at a time to rice mixture. Stir consistently until liquid is absorbed, then add another cup of stock and water. Repeat until stock and water mixture is all absorbed and rice is creamy; this will take around 16-18 minutes. 

3. Stir the calamari in the rice mixture for around 4 minutes or until calamari is tender. Remove the pan from the heat and add baby spinach, cheese, lemon juice and a pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper. Stir well to combine and serve warm, with extra lemon zest and baby spinach on top, if you desire. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 30 minutes 

x Emily 

PRAWN, CELERY & PARSLEY RISOTTO

I have to give a great deal of thanks to my mother and her mammoth cookbook collection for my inspiration in the kitchen. I swear every time I go to my parents’ house, my mother has a new cookbook that she’s obsessed with. She has dog-eared the pages, placed post-its on every recipe she wants to make (which is 100 out of 105 recipes most of the time, so I have never fully understood the point of this) and is bursting at the seams to tell me about the meals that she has / is planning to make. Its really sweet. The idea for this risotto came from a recent Weight Watcher’s ‘Takeaway’ cookbook that was shared with me as mum’s ‘new favourite’. Now, I adore risottos however they often are too rich or heavy for me to eat at night. This is why I particularly love this dish. No cream, no cheese, no butter and no fuss.

INGREDIENTS

• 200g peeled prawns, tailed removed
• 3 stalks celery, washed & finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups arborio cup
• 3 cups gluten-free vegetable stock 
• 1 small brown onion, finely chopped
• sea salt 
• coconut oil 

COOKING 

1. Bring vegetable stock to the boil and simmer, covered, until required. 

2. Meanwhile, heat coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, adding onion and garlic when pan is heated. Stir for 4 minutes or until onion is soft. Add rice to the pan and cook, stirring, for one minute. Reduce the heat to low and add the hot stock, one ladle (1/2 a cup) at a time, stirring constantly until all the rice is absorbed. (This should take around 15-20 minutes depending on the heat of your stove). 

3. Stir in the prawns and celery and season with sea salt. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until prawns are pink in colour and are cooked and heated through. Remove from heat and sprinkle with parsley, stirring this through if you like. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 12 minutes (add more time if you are peeled & de-tailed the prawns yourself)

Total Cooking time / 27-32 minutes 

x E

FENNEL & ARTICHOKE RISOTTO

I spotted fennel at the weekend fresh food market on several occasions this winter, but was rather scared to cook with it, as I had heard that it had a somewhat liquorice and aniseed quality. I was pleasantly surprised when I decided to take the leap and purchase a large fennel bulb from the Westend markets. Dusting off my Women’s Weekly The Complete Cook, I learnt that fennel is both a vegetable and herb, as its downy leaves can be chopped and used in salads, sauces, soups, rice dishes and fresh salmon like its relative dill. The tops of the fennel bulb can be used as a bed to steam fish and the bulb of the fennel (the part that I used in this recipe) has infinite uses. The bulb can be sautéed, grilled, roasted and stir-fried. I recommend cooking fennel as it does soften the strong aniseed flavour and brings out its natural sweetness. So the lesson here is to experiment with new vegetables, as you never know what you never try. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 x 400g tin artichokes, drained, rinsed and roughly chopped
• 1/2 a large fennel, trimmed of leaves, washed well and roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon dairy-free margarine, such as Nutalex 
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 5 cups vegetable stock (preferably Massel brand)
• 1 leek, washed and finely chopped
• 2 cups arborio or doongara rice 
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped, plus extra, if desired

COOKING 

1. Heat margarine in a large saucepan and add fennel and leek. Cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until leek and fennel have softened but are not burnt. 

2. Add rice and stir ingredients to combine. Pour vegetable stock and wine into the pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, adding artichoke pieces. Cook for 20 minutes or until rice is absorbed and no liquid remains. Remove heat and place risotto in a large serving bowl. 

3. Meanwhile, heat a small frying pan over low to medium heat. Add lemon juice and parsley to the pan and stir frequently until warmed. Remove from heat and drizzle over the top of the risotto. Serve with extra fresh parsley, if desired. 

Serves / 6

Total Preparation time / 10 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 30 minutes 

TURMERIC RISOTTO WITH CHICKEN & CHORIZO

Part 2 of the chorizo trilogy! Like I said a few days ago folks, not the healthiest meat to cook with and definitely best saved for a special occasion. Unfortunately for me, I have had a few special occasions recently and have been incited to cook with this spicy, smoky meat. This dish I made last Sunday, feeling a little sorry for myself after one too many champagnes at a ball on Saturday night. I love doing the old trick of adding ground turmeric to a risotto or curry to make the ingredients yellow in colour. Cookbooks will tell you to add saffron threads, but unless you have high figures in the bank, saffron is too expensive for the average Joe (aka me!). Also, ground turmeric works just as well. Thanks Mumma for that tip! To make this dish healthier, lose the chorizo and replace it with an extra 100-200g of chicken breast fillets.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 chorizo, around 120g, finely sliced
• 250g chicken breast fillet, cut into even 4cm pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 x 400g tin of diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes, diced 
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary / 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 1 eschallot, finely chopped
• a pinch of ground turmeric
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 2 cups doongara rice 
• coconut oil
• a handful of baby spinach leaves, washed

COOKING 

1. Heat a large, deep saucepan over medium heat, adding 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Add eschallot, garlic and turmeric, stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces to the pan and cook, stirring constantly or until chicken is white in colour and cooked through. Add chorizo and rice and cook for 2 minutes. Add stock, diced tomatoes and dried herbs. Bring to the boil, then simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. 

2. After 15 minutes the rice should be tender and the liquid should be absorbed. If not, simmer for a few extra minutes. Then add spinach leaves and mix through the rice. Cover again for 5 minutes or until leaves are wilted. Serve warm. 

Serves / 4 -6 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 30 - 35 minutes 

x E