Allotment risotto with goats cheese #Capricornchallenge
When I saw the Capricorn Challenge I had to get involved, goats cheese is a real weakness of mine. Whenever there’s a cheeseboard to be bought there has to be goats cheese. At least one. I cook with it frequently and saw this as an ideal opportunity to experiment further when the wonderful hamper arrived courtesy of my goaty friend Ethel (@ethelthegoat). In fact there seemed too much choice and I got a little bamboozled by all the potential flavour combinations. I had goats cheese fritatta, goats cheese and bacon pastry ‘ravioli’ which puffed too much and looked remarkably like sausage rolls. I got excited by the possibility of goats cheese pakora and this is still on the list to try. I also made a rather goaty dessert of goats cheese cranachan tart with balsamic raspberry coulis. Goats cheese, honey and raspberry is an amazing flavour combination.
Ethel’s #CapricornChallenge hamper
However despite all these combinations I haven’t got a recipe that I was happy to publish until now. Yes it’s another risotto, I do cook a lot of them, and yes it’s similar to my summer one. However, I think this has a lot of dimensions too it and so had to share. It has a little heat from the chilli, freshness from the vegetables, tangy, salty creaminess from the cheese, crunch from the pine nuts and an earthy robustness from the beautiful fermented Spanish sausage. It’s what I think of as (slightly) classy peasant feelgood food.
My ingredients including allotment vegetables
The vegetables came from my Dad’s allotment so were fresh, organic and quite delicious and provided the inspiration alongside the cheese. The garlic I used was wet garlic, the vegetables were freshly podded peas, broad beans and runner beans. I’d urge you to use whatever comes nearest and freshest to you and expand with herbs, flowers and other vegetables.
Allotment risotto with Capricorn goats cheese
So thank you to Ethel for my hamper, hopefully I’ll be able to perfect a couple more recipes to publish but in the meantime here’s (another) risotto. I blame Marcella….
Risotto with seasonal vegetables, fuet and goats cheese
Print recipe
| Serves | 2 |
| Prep time | 10 minutes |
| Cook time | 30 minutes |
| Total time | 40 minutes |
| Allergy | Tree Nuts |
| Meal type | Lunch, Main Dish |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Serve Hot |
| Region | Italian |
| By author | Graeme Taylor |
Ingredients
- 120g Risotto rice
- 75g Fuet (or you could use salami)
- 2 cloves Garlic (finely sliced)
- 2 Shallots (finely chopped)
- 2 handfuls Seasonal vegetables (I used peas, runner beans and broad beans)
- 1 Red chilli (finely chopped)
- 3 small Ripe tomatoes (finely chopped)
- 1 splash White wine
- 750ml Stock (Vegetable, mushroom or chicken)
- 1 Capricorn goats cheese (roughly chopped)
- 1 handful Pine nuts (toasted)
- Olive oil
Note
Obviously fuet is Spanish, a more Italian take would be chopped salami or even pancetta or proscuitto. It's up to you. This was originally called allotment risotto as it was from vegetables grown by my Dad. But you probably don't know my Dad so use whatever you have in your garden, plot, window box, greengrocer, farmers market. Anything where the food miles are kept to a minimum and the seasonality to a maxium. Experiment and enjoy but don't forget the vital element. The cheese!
Directions
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In a saute pan warm the olive oil then over a low/medium heat saute the chopped fuet, garlic and shallots until soft but not coloured. |  |
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Add the seasonal vegetables, chilli and rice and cook for five minutes. |  |
| Turn up the heat a little and add in the wine, stirring continuously until it is evaporated. When the wine is evaporated add your first ladel of warm stock and stir well, you should see the starch coming out of the rice as the risotto starts to get creamy. Continue adding the stock ladelwise until it is approaching al dente | |
| When you have only a ladel or two left until the rice is ready (this may be less or more than the guideline 750ml) add in the tomato and stir through. Continue cooking until rice is the consistency you like. I prefer a bit of bite. | |
| Lower the heat completely and add the goats cheese, this should mostly melt in but still have some more oozy chunks of goaty goodness. | |
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Remove from the heat and serve with the toasted pine nuts scattered on top and maybe a wee drizzle of olive oil. |  |
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Looks divine! Last time I was pregnant I vowed that my first meal post delivery would involve a bottle of red wine and a whole oozy unpasteurised goats cheese! Needless to say, it didn’t happen… But this time I’m determined! If the baby arrives soon enough my garden will still be full of peas and broad beans: I’ll put the recipe on my birth plan
Oh wow! What a compliment! When is the wee one due?
A few weeks yet, thankfully my husband is a risotto master (all credit to the lesson in Jamie Oliver’s Naked Chef book!)