Whole Food Diary's Beetroot Risotto

This weeks Blogger of the Week, Cecilia Halling who writes the wonderful Whole Food Diary has shared with us this recipe for a rather unusual risotto...

Yes, this dish may look very pink but do not worry, it's an all natural affair. An ingenious use of beetroot, this is a creamy risotto full of fresh flavours - perfect for summer evenings. Even if you're a devoted carnivore, we think you'll love this dish. 

Beetroot Risotto

Ingredients

1l vegetable stock

250g arborio rice

1/2 leek

3 shallots

3 garlic cloves

200ml dry white wine

200 ml single cream

2 small or 3 large raw beetroots

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp honey

150g parmesan cheese

Handful of chopped thyme

Generous pinch of sea salt and pepper

Method

I suggest you use home-made vegetable stock for this recipe as it makes a big difference to the flavour of the dish and it really doesn’t take long to make. Find the recipe here(http://wholefooddiary.com/recipes/view/38/vegetable-stock).

Add the olive oil to the pan and gently fry the leek, shallots and garlic until soft. Make sure it doesn’t burn. Add the rice to the pan and continue to fry gently for another 5 minutes.

Pour the wine over the rice and turn up the heat. Allow to boil whilst stirring until the majority of the liquid has dissolved. Now start ladling in the vegetable stock a little at a time whilst stirring regularly.

In the meantime peel and grate the beetroots and add to the rice. Continue to add vegetable stock to the pan whilst stirring until the rice is just about cooked al dente. At this point add the cream to mixture and allow to reduce until the risotto is at it’s perfect consistency.

Whilst cooking down the cream, season the risotto with vinegar and honey for some depth of flavour and add a generous amount of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the parmesan and thyme last but save a bit of each for serving.

When the parmesan is melted add a little extra stock if the risotto is too dry. Serve in a large bowl topped with parmesan and fresh thyme.

You can see more of Cecilia's wonderful recipes here