21 Jun Three Bean Risotto
Feel free to play around with whatever vegetables are in season to your liking. You could for example replace the peas or beans with courgettes or mushrooms if you prefer.
Serves: 4
#3 portions of veg per serving.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp olive oil (fat)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil (fat)
- 1 large onion – finely chopped (carb)
- 2 sticks celery – finely chopped (carb)
- 2 cloves garlic – crushed (carb)
- 200g risotto rice (carb)
- 900ml chicken or vegetable stock
- 200g fresh or frozen broad beans – blanched and double podded (carb)
- 200g fresh or frozen peas – blanched (carb)
- 1 bunch asparagus – sliced into 1-2” pieces (carb)
- 6 sprigs of mint – leaves removed and finely chopped (carb)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- To PFC balance the meal, add prawns
Heat the olive and coconut oils together in a large deep frying pan or saucepan. Add the onion and celery and cook over a medium heat for approx 5 mins until soft and translucent. Next add the garlic and cook for a further minute before adding the rice and thoroughly stir to coat each grain of rice in oil. Turn down the heat and cook for approx 10-15 mins stirring frequently, until rice begins to turn translucent.
While the rice is cooking place the stock in a saucepan and heat to boiling point – then add the asparagus and simmer for approx 2-3 mins until tender, then remove from the stock with slotted spoon and quickly rinse under cold water and set aside.
Blanch the peas and broad beans by placing them in separate bowls and pouring hot water over them. Leave for approx 2 mins before draining and rinsing in cold water. Then pod the broad beans by pinching a hole at one end and squeezing the little green fellas out of their skins! It is a fiddly but rewarding job as the green jewels inside pop out!
(If making in advance you can stop the preparation here and continue 20 mins or so before you are ready to eat.)
When the rice has started to turn translucent, start adding the hot stock, a ladle full at a time to the rice mixture, stirring frequently, until 1 ladle of stock remains. This will take approx 15-20 mins, by which time the rice should almost be cooked al dente and have a little bite to it.
When you add the last ladle of stock, add the peas, beans, asparagus, mint and lemon zest, season with freshly ground black pepper and a generous pinch of Himalyan pink rock salt and cook for another 2-3 mins until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed.
Serve immediately and garnish with a sprig of mint.
TIP: You may if you wish replace 100ml of the stock with 100ml of white wine, which should be added to the rice before the stock. You may then also stir in 50gm of grated parmesan cheese with the last ladle of stock.