These last two posts are a bit back-to-front, but there you have it.
Taking into consideration the fact I now – as of the weekend – can not stand for too long before I start getting some pretty impressive low abdomen period-like pains, I’m looking for dinners that require minimum effort for maximum reward.
Then in today’s Good Living, Bill Granger did a few risotto recipes. It got me thinking, that I love risotto and haven’t made it in ages. The sole reason for that reality is that Felix doesn’t like it – one of those weird things where he doesn’t like any dish where everything is mixed together – think casseroles, soups, risottos. I know. W.E.I.R.D.
Anyway, one of his recipes was for a baked risotto, which got me thinking even further (yup, let’s pick the chick essentially on bedrest with early signs of labour, two ear infections and enough phlegm to fill a shot glass in one cough) about a baked risotto I used to cook, until the last time when it mysteriously didn’t work and I ended up with a weird glug of crunchy rice and half-cooked cubes of pumpkin. Ble…
So – I noticed in his intro he said that one of his family favourites was to do the baked risotto with some sausages thrown in. Perfect.
Bill – and Kim’s – baked tomato risotto with pecorino (or in this case, parmesan)
- 2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 small bulb fennel, finely chopped
- 3 fat pork and fennel sausages, chopped into pieces
- 1 cup aborio rice
- 1.5cups water
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 60g freshly grated pecorino chees
- freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat oven to 200C and heat the oil in a 3 litre ovenproof dish (with a lid) over medium heat
- add onion, fennel and sausages and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent
- add the rice, cook for a minute or so
- add the water, then the tomatoes and bring to a simmer (I added some chopped parsley and fennel fronds at this stage as well)
- sprinkle over the pecorino (or parmesan) and black pepper, put the lid on and cook for 30 minutes.
I foiled Felix and called it “sausages with rice” – he thought it was delicious. Mwahahahahahah.
I also love doing a completely vegetarian version – with diced pumpkin or sweet potato instead of the sausage. Also – mix it up with herbs – sage, rosemary and tarragon are my faves.