Recently Andy’s mum gave us a vegetarian cookery book. We have tried a few recipes from it, and our most recent success is a vegetarian risotto. I am not a huge fan of rice usually, but I do like a nice flavourful risotto, although if I was out I would not often choose one as I worry about what sort of stock has been used.
The book is a Good Food book (101 Veggie Dishes) but the recipe is here too.
It is pretty simple to make- chop the onion and cook it in the oven a bit, add the rice, vegetable stock (we don’t use wine, we use a small carton of passata instead) and rosemary, and leave in the oven for more, then drain a jar of antipasto peppers (Aldi do a jar for 99p), add that and some spinach, and bake again.
Last week we bought a huge bag of spinach, so it would not all fit in the risotto- I added some to my plate so the warm rice wilted it a bit too. The recipe says to use vegetarian parmesan- style cheese, but we have just grated a little cheddar to melt on top.
Much easier than one that cooks on the hob and needs constant stirring.
We are ones to get stuck in a bit of a meal routine, so it was great to try something new and we have had this for a few weeks now, as it is lovely and warming on a chilly evening.
Have you tried baking a risotto before? Are you good at trying new meals or do you tend to stick to the same ones?
When you think risotto you instantly think “hard work and constant monitoring”. However this sound surprisingly simple and easy! I’d probably add some chicken or something but that’s because I’m a meat eater and do love my protein – but actually chickpeas might work nicely too? Sounds delicious without anyway!
Chickpeas are a great idea 🙂
I would never think to bake a risotto and I’ve never seen it cooked this way before. It sounds a lot simpler than the traditional cooking method.
I have never tried the normal way, but this one is really good 🙂
Love that you BAKED risotto!
It was what the recipe said 🙂
That sounds like a great way to make one. I’d never actually made a risotto before until I had to recipe test for the cookbook. I do like them but too much of a faff to make on the stove top that often!
Yes they seem such a faff! Looking forward to seeing your recipes 🙂
This looks really delicious and I love that you don’t have to spend every second watching it as you do normal risotto.
Yes, so much easier!
I always do my risotto on the oven! It’s SO much easier! And you can just chuck in whatever veg you have. I usually go for squash, peas, spinach, onions and garlic (which I fry up separately). It’s so easy for a weeknight dinner, half an hour and it’s done. Plus you can come in post-run, shove it in the oven and shower while it cooks. Hurrah!
Those cook-while-you-shower meals are fab!