It’s been ages since I shared a recipe on the blog as I rediscover my grá for writing about food, but no better time than this as we hit the winter months on the hunt for something simple and warming.
As part of a series we’re doing on air (KCLR), I was tasked with coming up with a recipe for this week’s helping of Taste 4 A Tenner, done in partnership with St. Canice’s Credit Union in Kilkenny to demonstrate that it’s very possible to do a dinner for four (or batch cook a set of meals for the week if that’s your fancy) for €10 or less. I my case I stuck very much to the brief, my entire shopping run coming in at €6.38 knowing that adding another Euro would see the ingredients haul stretch to eight portions instead of four.
You may be familiar with seeing a risotto on a restaurant menu, jumping between starters and main courses, but it’s not restaurant-difficult to prepare at home. The trick (I find) to cooking a Risotto is to add your stock bit-by-bit and keep stirring all the way to the end (when all the liquid is absorbed).
In preparation, I’ve used an old Le Creuset dish but if you’ve got a wide pan or pot you can cook everything on the hob, in one dish, keeping the cleaning down afterwards. It’s a vegetarian dish, but you won’t have to look far for meat options. Don’t fancy leek? Substitute in mushrooms. Some people like to add frozen peas right at the end. Don’t fancy using cheese? That’s no problem either, you should still get a creamy result regardless thanks to the cooking process.
Here’s the recipe…
Easy leek & lemon risotto
A tasty, warming risotto dish that feeds four adults for under €7 all in.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive or or equivalent of butter
- 1 large leek, pale end approx 100g
- 2 cloves garlic
- 300 g arborio risotto rice
- 900 ml vegetable stock 900ml water plus 2 vegetable stock cubes
- 60 g grated Parmagiano Reggiano cheese
- 1 lemon zest and juice
Instructions
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Finely chop leek and garlic separately
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Grate outside of your lemon (all of it) for lemon zest
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Chop lemon in half, remove the pips
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Weigh out 300g of rice or look at side of packet, may be split into 50g markings (count six).
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Boil kettle for water to make up 900ml vegetable stock (900ml water in your glass measuring just, stirring in two stock cubes)
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On a medium-high heat on a hob (4 out of 6 in my house), heat your pan and add in 1 tbsp olive oil or the equivalent of butter.
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Add your chopped leek and sautée for 1-2 minutes, keep stirring so that they’re coated in oil or butter
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Add garlic and continue stirring for 1 minute
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Add 300g risotto rice and stir thoroughly for 2-3 minutes so the rice gets coated in leek, garlic, oil/butter mix. This has the effect of lightly toasted the rice.
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Add 1/4 of your stock mix, slowly stirring until all the liquid has been absorbed.
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Repeat until all the stock has been mixed in and soaked up. This process can take up to 20 minutes
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When all liquid has been absorbed, stir in 60g grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese until melted through
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Stir in lemon zest, squeeze two lemon halves in, ensuring all mixed through.
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Plate and enjoy
Holding back 20g cheese, you can sprinkle a little on each dish. If you’ve still got lemon zest or didn’t get all the juice out, add a fresh squeeze to each dish on the plate before serving.
Freshly cooked, you’ll get 2-3 days out of this in a sealed container in the fridge. While microwaving is handy, it’s better to reheat the risotto on the stove again, adding a little water to start, get back to stirring, until your risotto is nice and creamy once more.
Throwing an eye over the aisles, there’s just enough change left from the tenner to pick up a single-serving bottle of white wine that could be added to the dish in place of some of your stock (about 187ml). The alcohol can evaporate off quickly enough through the cooking method, the white wine adding to the flavour and gets you closer to a signature Italian style of risotto.
Enjoy!
