beetroot, thyme and goats cheese risotto.
On my recent trip to Italy I realised I had been slightly overcooking food for my entire life. I never grew up with authentic Italian food and gluten free Italian is a bit hit and miss in restaurants so this was truly a mind-blowing revelation for me. The rice in a risotto shouldn’t blend together, of course it shouldn’t be mushy and I had never made it this way, but I realised the rice should be truly al dente. This is the perfect Valentines dinner and risotto doesn’t have to be that scary. With the beautiful colour of the beets it makes a nice romantic dinner for two with some left to remember the night the next day!
Beetroot creates a lovely subtle earthy and sweet flavour when it’s cooked like this and combined with the strong, salty cheese it’s a match made in heaven! The thyme gives a lovely flavour that hits right at the end.
I have used goats cheese here, a soft or hard goats cheese work great! If you want the vegan option all you need to sub out is the goats cheese for a vegan fetta or it is also perfect without either! If you are like my boyfriend and not a huge fan of thyme either reduce the amount or leave it out. I have made it both ways and they are both delicious! If you aren’t making this as a Valentine’s dinner or you jut want to add some extra vege, my favourite are some peas and green beans!
To make the thyme oil just leave a sprig of thyme in 2 tbsp of olive oil for around half an hour at a minimum, you can leave it a couple of hours but if you do this make sure it’s in an air tight container. You could also use some store bought thyme olive oil if you have this.
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 brown onions, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp thyme oil
3 tbsp dairy free butter
2 cups arborio rice
1-2 sprigs of thyme
3 beetroots, peeled and grated
6½ cups of vegetable stock
2 tbsp vegan parmesan cheese
Goat’s cheese/vegan fetta (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
Method
In a large pan, heat 1 tbsp of the dairy free butter over a medium heat. Add in the diced onion and garlic and saute until opaque.
Add in the rice and stir to combine.
Add in a ladle full of stock and stir. Once absorbed add in another ladle full. Repeat this until the stock is almost all used up and taste to see if the rice is al dente. If the rice is perfect then there is no need to add more stock but if it needs more liquid keep adding ladle full at a time until you get the rice al dente (you will know when this happens, it won’t be hard but it won’t be perfectly soft either).
Once you are almost done (I find about 1 ladle full of stock to go is perfect) with the stock absorption add in the beetroot as well as the last 2 tbsp of dairy free butter and the parmesan cheese. Stir this in well.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with goats cheese/vegan fetta, thyme and a drizzle of olive oil!
