Creamy Risotto w/ Peas & Artichoke

Creamy Risotto w Peas & Artichoke

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 brown onions, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp olive oil 

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp brown sugar

40g butter

1 cup arborio rice

4 garlic cloves, finely diced

2 stock cubes dissolved in 2 cups of water (or two cups of stock)

1 cup dry white wine

400g marinated artichoke hearts, chopped into bite-sized chunks

1/2 cup pouring cream

1/4 tsp saffron threads

Peel from 1 lemon

1/2 cup Sicilian green olives (100g), cut in half

1 cup of bocconcini balls (200g)

1 cup of peas

A handful of fresh Italian parsley roughly chopped

Finely grated parmesan cheese (to serve)

Method

Preheat your oven to 200˚C.

Fry the onions moderate heat with the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar until they are golden and caramelised. Set aside.

While the onions are caramelising, melt the butter in a deep oven-proof frying pan then add the rice and garlic cloves (if you don’t have an ovenproof frying pan, start cooking in a regular frying pan then transfer to a casserole dish to bake).

Fry until the rice has absorbed the butter and started to brown slightly, then add the water, stock cubes and wine.

Bring to the boil, then add the artichoke hearts, cream, saffron threads, lemon peel and caramelised onion.

At this point, if you are not using an oven-proof frying pan, transfer everything to a casserole dish with a lid. Bake in the oven (with the lid on) for 15 minutes, then remove the lid and gently stir in the olives and bocconcini. Bake for another 15 minutes with the lid off.

While the risotto is baking, blanche the peas. Put the peas in a heat-proof jug and pour over with boiling water. Let sit for 3-5 minutes, until the peas turn a bright shade of green. Drain.

Remove the risotto from the oven, add the peas and stir to combine. Scatter with chopped parsley and serve with grated parmesan cheese and plenty of cracked pepper to taste.

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