While my Mum didn’t cook much more than trail mix growing up, there was the occasional midweek dinner that consisted of lasagne (a shit load of mince with one rectangle of crunchy San Remo pasta), frozen peas and a baked potato. As I fumbled through my plate, there was only one thing keeping me from Home & Away and my evening bowl of neapolitan ice-cream sprinkled with Milo. Peas. The absolute worst.
… except when hidden in a risotto. That old sly trick.
Me 1, peas 0.
Spinach & Pea Risotto
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 1/2 cups of aborio rice
- 1 cup of white wine
- 3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 cup frozen peas
- Large handful of washed baby spinach – kale, frozen spinach or swiss chard can be substituted
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- Salt & pepper
Method
Heat the olive oil in a large pan and gently saute the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the rice and heat through before pouring in the white wine.
Over a very low heat, simmer the wine until all the liquid has been reduced. Pour in half a cup of stock, reduce the liquid, then continue with another half until the rice is cooked. The idea here is to cook the rice slowly. Keep the heat low and stir regularly.
Taste as you go, this way you’ll be able to know when the rice is cooked. Depending on the brand of rice, you may not need all the stock, or you may need a little more.
While the rice is cooking, pulse the spinach and frozen peas in a food processor. If you don’t have a processor, just mush/chop finely. Add the veg mix to the rice while it’s still sightly crunchy. Once the rice has cooked and the liquid has been reduced, stir through the parmesan and season to taste.
