It has been a very long time since I last posted a recipe but gradually I am starting to cook again. My little monkey has now turned two and life is slightly easier albeit she still wants to be carried / held as soon as I start cooking. Thankfully she can now be bribed with TV. My husband and I decided to cook this for lunch today and it was the perfect recipe for such a cold, rainy day. Risotto has always been one of my favourite foods and I am obsessed with blue cheese. This is a recipe from the Waitrose magazine last year and it took around 50 minutes in total to prepare and cook.
Ingredients for 4 people:
4 medium leeks / 3 large leeks
50g butter
350g risotto rice
125ml dry white wine (I left this out)
1.5l fresh vegetable stock, heated (I only had chicken)
100g dolcelatte, cut into cubes
2 handfuls of grated Parmesan (plus extra to serve)
Slice the leeks, both the white and the green bits, into rings. In a large frying pan, fry the green parts in about 15g of butter with a pinch of salt until softened. This took about five minutes. When they are ready, tip into a bowl and cover.
Melt the remaining butter (35g) into the same frying pan and fry the rest of the leeks with a pinch of salt for around 8 minutes, until they are soft. Next stir in the 350g rice for a minute or two until hot and thoroughly coated in the butter. If you are using wine, this is the point where you turn up the heat and tip in 125ml dry white wine. Bubble and stir until the liquid has been absorbed.
Add two ladlefuls of hot stock and cook, stirring constantly, until absorbed. Add another ladleful and repeat. Carry on doing this until the stock is finished and the rice is al dente. This normally takes about 17-20 minutes.
Stir in the 100g dolcelatte and the two handfuls of Parmesan, season and cover. Leave to stand for 4 minutes. We turned the heat down very very low at this point.
Serve in bowls, topped with some of the fried leeks, a drizzle of olive oil and a scattering of Parmesan.
This was delicious, very creamy but not too rich as the leeks balance out the cheese. Ours definitely needed seasoning but it all tasted incredible. I loved the combination of the leeks and the blue cheese and I would be tempted to add some lardons next time. Unfortunately there is no way I will be able to persuade the kids to eat this as they are not blue cheese fans, however that just means more for me :-)
I am rarely cooking new recipes nowadays. It is impossible to cook when my toddler Olympia is awake as she constantly wants to be carried or is hanging onto my legs. Plus it is the last thing I want to do when she is having a nap. As a result, I have just been rehashing old recipes and cooking lots of baby recipes which thankfully my elder daughter Arabella is a huge fan of too, such as salmon and broccoli pasta in a cheese sauce, or jacket potatoes with a filling.
Anyway I decided it was time to up my game, stop being lazy and cook a family dish that we can all eat and I can then freeze the leftovers - I started with a mac and cheese, then a cottage pie and on Sunday I cooked this recipe from Waitrose website.
Ingredients for 6 people:
500g dried pasta (I used penne)
Around 200g pancetta
1 large onion, finely sliced
1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (I left this out)
500g ripe vine tomatoes, roughly chopped
110g frozen peas
250g tub of ricotta cheese
50g Parmesan, grated
25g fresh basil leaves, torn
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Preheat the oven to 200C / gas mark 6.
Prepare and cut all the ingredients.
Dry fry the pancetta in a frying pan for around 5 minutes until golden and crispy. Then remove with a slotted spoon and place to one side.
Using the same pan, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until it begins to soften and then stir in the chilli (if using) and tomatoes for around ten minutes until it starts to form a sauce. Then mix in the pancetta.
Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the packet's instructions - mine took ten minutes until al dente. For the last 4 minutes, add the peas and then drain.
Finally mix all the ingredients together and pour into a baking dish.
Spoon the ricotta evenly over the top, then scatter with Parmesan cheese. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and the top layer of pasta is golden and crusty. To serve sprinkle with basil and drizzle with olive oil.
This was really good, I loved the combination of flavours and the fact it was cheesy but not overpowering. Olympia, my 15 month old, adored it and I think it's so important that she sees us eating the same thing as her. Not surprising my husband enjoyed it so much, he ate for 2....resulting in not much left to freeze for Olympia for next week!!
