Jamie Oliver's Cauliflower Risotto

Jamie Oliver's Cauliflower Risotto

The next cauliflower recipe we tried was Jamie Oliver's Cauliflower Risotto from the Jamie's Italy book. The recipe uses his version of risotto bianco with certain additions, most notably the pangrattato to sprinkle.
I have reproduced Jamie's recipe here - mainly for our own use since the book has you flipping back and forth between the cauliflower risotto and the risotto bianco recipes.

1.1 litres stock (chicken/vegetable)
2 tbsp olive oil
knob of butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Half a head of celery, finely chopped
400g risotto rice
2 wineglasses of dry vermouth or dry white wine
70g butter
115g grated Parmesan
2 handfuls stale bread (we used one gluten-free roll)
1 small tin anchovies
3 small dried chillis
1 cauliflower
Parmesan for grating
Chopped fresh parsley

1. Heat the stock. Break the cauliflower into florets and add to the stock. Put the olive oil and butter unto a separate pan, add the onion, garlic and celery and cook very slowly for15 mins. When the veg has softened, turn up the heat and add the rice.

2. Lightly fry the rice, stirring continuously. After about a minute it will look translucent. Add the vermouth and keep stirring.

3. Once the vermouth has cooked into the rice, ass the first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a simmer so the rice doesn't cook too quickly. Keep adding ladles of stock stirring continuously, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. The cauliflower should be softened by now so you can start adding it bit by bit, mashing it into the rice. Continue until the rice is cooked and all the cauliflower had been added.

4. Meanwhile whizz the bread in a food processor with the anchovies and the oil from the tin along with the chillis. Heat a frying pan with a splash of oil and fry the flavoured breadcrumbs, stirring and tossing continuously until golden brown.






5. Remove the risotto from the heat and add the butter, Parmesan and parsley. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 mins. Sprinkle with the anchovy pangrattato, grate some more Parmesan over and serve.

Once again, this recipe was superb. The cauliflower flavour coming through nicely. Using this much celery in a risotto was a new one for me, and as a well-known celery-hater (or I thought I was a celery hater until now) I was pleasantly surprised. Jamie's tip of letting the risotto stand seemed to work as the texture was spot on. The pangrattoto is something we're likely to try for other things as it added - in Jamie's words "an amazing kick". it was salty, hot, crunchy and was the perfect garnish.

Chorizo and Squash Risotto

Chorizo and Squash Risotto

OK now it's my turn.  This is just a very simple idea that I thought you might like to try and I don't know about you but I find making risotto very therapeutic.  Now although I can eat anything, apart from toast in the morning I am basically gluten-free as I eat the same food as Fran (most of the time).  The Chorizo I used was gluten-free as was the chicken stock (Knoor). 

What you will need (for about 4 people):

Olive Oil
40g Butter
250g Arborio Rice
100g Chorizo (chopped)
1 Butternut Squash (diced)
1 Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
1 glass white wine
1 ltr Chicken Stock
Handful of Frozen Peas

First get a your chicken stock to a simmer and add the butternut squash. 
In a frying pan, heat the oil and butter and cook the chopped Chorizo for a few minutes till the oils are released. 

Remove the Chorizo with a slotted spoon and put aside.  The fry the onion and garlic in the residue oil for 5 minutes till soft.  Add the rice and coat with the oil.
Add the wine and bubble till the alcohol has evaporated then add a ladle of stock (leaving the squash cooking for a little while).
As with all risottos, keep adding stock as the rice begins to dry out.

After about 10 minutes drain the stock into another pan and put the squash to one side, bring the stock to a simmer again and continue adding to the rice.

When the rice has been cooking for about 20 minutes add the squash.  At the 25 minute mark add the Chorizo, then the peas for the final couple of minutes.  The rice should take about 30 minutes and use all the stock.

Simply serve with some Parmesan shavings and enjoy.

Beetroot Risotto

Last week we paid another visit to one of our favourite places: Kenyon Hall Farm to see what seasonal delights were on offer.  It had shrunk considerably since we last visited.  Apparently they are building a new cafe which should be interesting when it opens next year.  Despite the pending building works etc there was still a great deal of tempting seasonal produce for sale.

This time we were tempted into a fantastic pumpkin and a couple of gem squashes, tomatoes, carrots with tops and a lovely bunch of fresh beetroot.  Later today I am planning on cooking a pumpkin and chorizo risotto but last week I used the beetroot for a wonderful, healthy and fresh (and colourful) beetroot risotto.

Beetroot Risotto

What I used:

A bunch of fresh beetroot (about 300g), peeled and diced
250g Arborio rice
1lt chicken stock (gluten-free)
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
Large knob of butter
Glass of white wine
1 onion (or use shallots)
300g bag of rocket, watercress and spinach mix
50g grated Parmesan
Olive oil
Pepper to taste

Method

First prepare the beetroot.  I kept some back and made a raw beetroot and carrot salad for the side.

Bring the stock to a simmer and add the chopped beetroot.  Cook for about 15 minutes till softened. 

Drain the beetroot and put aside.  The red stock is now ready to use to make the risotto.

In a large pan heat some oil and butter.  Fry the onion till soft and add the wine.  Allow the alcohol to evaporate and mix in the rice. 

Then add the stock (keeping it simmering), ladle at a time, allowing it to almost dry each time but stirring constantly so it does not stick. 

This should take about 25 minutes.

When the rice is cooked, add the beetroot, Parmesan and mixed leaves.  Heat through and when the leaves are wilted it is ready to serve.







With a little pepper and a sprinkle of Parmesan this was a really tasty, healthy and seasonal meal.  We had it with some raw beetroot and carrot salad.  For this we mixed grated beetroot and carrot as it is so sweet it doesn't really need any dressing.