Carrot and pea risotto

Time for another risotto. The quick version, without all the stirring.

1 cup of Arborio rice
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 cup of peas (I used deep frozen)
2 slices of pancetta
1/2 dried red chilli pepper
a bit of red wine
stock
bay leaves
dried basil
parsley, chopped

More pumpkin

Can't get enough of pumpkin, so in between the party dinners I made another pumpkin risotto. A simpler version of the recipe posted before, only with pumpkin, no onions or carrots. I used a big slice of organic muscat pumpkin and it tasted delicious. Contrary to my habit, this time I prepared it in the proper risotto way, adding small portions of water at a time and stirring a lot.

Walvis

Yesterday we had a quick meal: risotto with broccoli, peas, leek, spring onion, chervil and smoked bacon. I like to use just one colour of vegetable.


Then we hurried to the cinema to watch Persepolis, the Iranian animation film based on Marjane Satrapi's 'graphic novels' (apparently the author doesn't like this term). I read all the books and the movie was a nice reminder of the stories.

After the movie we went for a drink in the Walvis (Whale), one of my favourite bars in the neighbourhood which had been closed for a while but was open again for the first day, to our great relief.

This is the view from the terrace in the evening light.


We still had a few munchies left from the movie:

Attack of the crocodiles

Cute kitten

Jerusalem artichoke risotto

I often make risotto when I don't have much time or just a few vegetables left.
It's a very simple recipe which you can vary endlessly. And I had forgotten how delicious Jerusalem artichokes are; their flavour comes out really well in this dish.

Serves 2

4-6 Jerusalem artichokes
2 carrots
2 potatoes
1/2 cup green peas
1 onion
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp pine nuts
1 bay leaf
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup rice
3 cups boiling water or vegetable stock

Peel the vegetables and cut them into pieces.
Fry the onion in the oil for a few min, then add pine nuts and other vegetables except the peas. Fry a little more. Add the rice and fry a little more, while stirring frequently.
Add boiling water, peas, salt, parsley and spices. Bring to the boil, then cover the pan and let it simmer on very low heat until all water has been absorbed.

Note
You might add some lemon juice to this combination and maybe a little sugar.
In general, you can also add some white or red wine to risotto.
One day I would like to make a chicken stew with this combination of vegetables.

Carrot and pumpkin risotto

My cousin J. gave me two beautiful pumpkins from her neighbour's garden, hooray!
Today I used one half for this delicious risotto.
The recipe comes from 'Italian vegetarian cooking' by Emanuela Stucchi.


Serves 4

120g butter
1 small onion, chopped
210 g pumpkin, chopped (weight without skin and seeds)
4 carrots, chopped
2,5 l vegetable stock
400 g Arborio rice
90 g grated Parmezan
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper

Fry the onion in half of the butter until it's transparent. Add pumpkin and carrots and cook for about 30 min. until they are soft. Mash them with a fork.
Add the rice and cook this for a few min. on high heat, while stirring. Add boiling vegetable stock and lower the heat. Let the risotto simmer for 20-40 min. until the rice is done. Stir regularly.
Switch off the heat, add the remaining butter, Parmezan, nutmeg and pepper and salt. Cover the pan and let it stand for 5 min.