Hello Dear Reader,
I have come to the easy conclusion that anything can go into a risotto. My favourite food is butternut squash or any kind of pumpkin and I especially love it in risotto.
Here's my recipe for Rainbow Risotto.
150g of Arborio Rice (I buy 500g bags in Aldi for 89p) -27p
2 veggie stock cubes and 750ml of boiling water - 2p - Tesco Everyday Value
1/2 cubed Butternut squash - 50p
1/10th bag of frozen mixed veg - 10p
3 chopped slices of bacon - Local Wholesale butcher - 30p
6 chopped mushrooms - 13p
1 chopped red pepper - 26p
1 chopped onion - 8p
Total Cost - £1.66 - 86p per person.
1. Fry the bacon and butternut squash.
2. Add the onions, veggies and mushrooms - fry until softened but not totally cooked.
3. Add the rice and stir.
4. When it just starts to catch, add the veggie stock a ladle full at a time and keep stirring
5. OR! just add all the stock and simmer whilst stirring until it has all been absorbed.
6. Finely chop two sun dried tomatoes and sprinkle them on top and stir through. Alternatively, grate 10g of Parmesan and sprinkle that on top.
I'm of the opinion that risotto is the new Bolognese. Let me explain, everyone can make a Bolognese sauce and everyone has a twist. I spent years wondering why Dearly Beloved's Bolognese was so delicious until I caught him adding ketchup. He came clean and told me he always had. Now, I add a squirt too! So, everyone has a risotto recipe and it's one of the easiest foods to cook. I love it with peas and mint, with chicken and veggies, with just veg, with chorizo in fact, I think anything can go into it.
I think Risotto is a perfect food for children as they can eat it from a bowl with a spoon as well as it being an easy one saucepan meal, which reduces the washing up. If anyone is interested, here's a link to BBC Good Food's list of Risotto recipes. But, I would like to know yours. So, over to you Dear Reader..........what do you put in your Risotto? Are there any of you who've never made Risotto? I would encourage you to try.
I hope you enjoy the recipe. Thanks so much for all the good wishes. The past 48 hours have all been about hard bargaining to get the best price we could for our own home and to buy at the best price. We all reached an affordable compromise. I've also secured a really good mortgage deal and chose a lifetime tracker with low fees and no get out fee, no early repayment fee and no cap on how much I can over pay and at 2.49% which is half the rate of interest that I currently pay. I now have the luxury of getting a really good deal because we are debt free and have good loan to value ratio on the new property. In the UK, it can take several weeks for houses to be purchased and anything up to twelve weeks and it's a slow process. It's also not a done deal until the monies are in the respective banks. We will hopefully be in for Christmas.
So, Dear Reader, tell me what goes in your Risotto?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxxx
Plenty of wild mushrooms from the forest and homemade chicken stock. Yummy!
ReplyDeletePlenty of wild mushrooms from the forest and homemade chicken stock. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteLove risotto because I can chuck in whatever I have left in the fridge. Have you tried using pearl barley as a substitute for rice? It works great!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great tip, would never have thought of that - thanks, I have run out of arborio rice, but have just bought pearl barley.
DeletePea and asparagus with lots of Parmesan, risotto is a v. frugal way of using asparagus when it's in season.
ReplyDeletelike the idea of asparagus, they do it reasonably cheaply in Aldi, I keep promising myself I'll plant a row of asparagus because even in Aldi it's not one of the cheapest veg.
Delete*Sulking because our local Aldi doesn't do 89p risotto, we have to have Asda's at £1.10/500g*
ReplyDeleteWe had risotto last night - Chicken (stripped from roast). 2 rashers of bacon, mushrooms, onions and a sad green pepper. Chorizo and pepper is another favourite here too. We just chuck anything in! (actually that's my cooking method for most things).
Hi Kate I love risotto as well and to save some pennies I substitute pudding rice for aborio you get the same effect. I have a local shop to me called Premier part of a franchise chain I think and you can get 2 bags of 500g pudding rice for|£1.50.
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DeleteCongrats! So happy for you.
ReplyDeleteOur Aldi does not have risotto rice at all. My favourite is mushroom, onion, bacon or no bacon and lots of thyme. I also make a chicken and chorizo paella.
ReplyDeleteI hope that there are no complications and that he handover process goes very smoothly.
Looks yummy - apart from the bacon, I'm going to try this with butter beans to go with the butternut squash, not as colourful but easier on my conscience.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad, but in my area of the US arborio rice is one of the more expensive rices. I make a mock dish using long grain white rice. My ingredients are usually whatever bits I have around.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I have never made risotto. I have always planned on making it someday. I want to use up the stash of brown rice in the pantry first. I had never made Bolognese until I read your blog. I found my receipe for Bolognese in a cookbook I have had forever. It was wonderful! I used sweet basil italian sausage in my sauce. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteRisotto is such a tasty way of using up any small quantity of vegetable that might otherwise go to waste. My favourite is a handful of rocket (arugula) or spinach leaves chucked in right at the end. No matter if the leaves are a bit wilted or "past it" either.
ReplyDeleteForget the risotto. I am doing a happy dance for you about the house!
ReplyDeleteI often make a lemon chicken rissoto - delish!!!! Easy and quick, it only takes me 20 to cook, and I leave it to cook by itself for half that time. Reheats too for the next nights dinner or lunch. Our local eatery does the best lemon risotto, three of us went there to have it last week, but they only had a spinach and chorizo which was nice.
ReplyDeleteJulie Q
I love sausage risotto - it is worth buying really good quality sausages, as you need very little for a great flavour. I stir fry loads of different veggies first - usually leeks, cauliflower, mushrooms, green beans & peas, then add the chopped up sausages (1 per person) to the pan. While these are cooking I melt butter or oil in another frying pan, pour in one large cup or mug of risotto rice. Once the rice is coated with butter I gradually stir in 1 pint of home made chicken stock. When the liquid is all absorbed I transfer the sausages & veg into the pan with the rice, stir and cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes more. Serve with grated cheese. Yummy.
ReplyDeleteWonderful house news! I make risotto (probably closer to savoury rice I suppose but we think if it as risotto) with brown rice in the rice cooker so I don't have to stir it. Our favourite flavour is lemon and parmesan. I fry up onions and brown the rice before adding to the rice coooker (I use a cup of brown rice to 3 cups of liquid, a mixture of lemon juice and stock) and add mushrooms and spinach towards the end of cooking and grated parmesan at the end.. healthy, easy and so delicious! Kay (NZ)
ReplyDeleteonion, bacon and cheese - well done on house and mortgage :)
ReplyDeletelynn.
I tend to use leftover chicken, bacon, peas and mushrooms. I will now be using squash! I struggle to use up squash, and this is a brilliant idea. I am so pleased about the house! Lesley x
ReplyDeleteIt takes months here in switzerland to close a house deal!! Three months at least. Frustrating. My trademark risotto is red wine and rosmary. Some cream stirred in at the end and cheese on top. Sausages and carrots as a side. My das is winegrower, so any bottle that has an issue or is getting old is used for cooking.
ReplyDeleterisotto in our household is the 'leftover' dish. So anything that needs to be used. I don't bother with risotto rice I just get a good deal round rice from local wholesale Asian food store in 10kg bags. I use it for all Asian cooking plus risotto and rice pudding.
ReplyDeleteTwo favourites in our house - classic chicken and garlic made with one roasted chicken thigh and a single clove of garlic and homemade chicken stock or a chicken Oxo. Second one is roasted garlic and spinach...simply roast a few cloves of garlic in their papers and squeeze into the rice while it is cooking, served on a bed of wilted greens from the bottom of the fridge or frozen spinach. Both served with strong parmesan. Frugal favourites that make for filling dinners and tasty leftovers for a hollow-legged teenager.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Froogs on your sale, your purchase and your mortgage wrangling. An exciting time in your life and one we all look forward to sharing with you in the coming months.
I really have to make more rissoto its something I never think of but I have a box of arborio rice that I got reasonable cheap in Lidl ages ago.
ReplyDeleteI get really jealous when I hear you on about the cheaper products in your Aldi, like the rice and bread flour because ive never seen them in any Aldi here in Ireland.
Going Lidl and Aldi in Germany this summer was worse though they have everything you could want at such low prices. If I had had the money and space in the car id have stocked up on un-perishables but ill know for next summer. :D
Congrats on the sale and hopefully ye will be moved by christmas as it would be lovely spending your first christmas there.
I like lemon zest, lemon juice, onion garlic and cheese.
ReplyDeleteThrilled about your sale.
Very exciting x
I forgot to say chicken stock!
ReplyDeleteThis looks so colourful. I am going to make a veggie version, just omitting the bacon. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteUnusual but absolutely delicious, barley and cheddar cheese risotto. OH rarely comments on the food I serve, but he is a real fan of this. Link to recipe:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pinchofcinnamon.com/2012/05/very-british-pearl-barley-and-cheddar.html
I use Chorizo in a risotto - I prefer Aldi's it is tastier - you only need a small piece to give lots of rich flavour, and bulk it out with vegetables.
Anything - or everything. Some favourites include mushroom, asparagus - simple peas and bacon or chorizo bits for "risi e bisi ; butternut squash and coconut (ever such a nice combination !) or, for a really simple yet posh version, homemade chicken stock and saffron with Grana Padano cheese.
ReplyDeleteCame across you via the Money Saving Expert site - someone had posted a link to one of your fab recipes, and I started browsing :)
ReplyDeleteI make risotto frequently - our fave is bacon, leek and mushroom, very flavoursome! I sometimes add a handful of spinach to my portion, too. Often I just throw in whatever needs to be used up, though, odds and ends of leftover meat or veg.