Beetroot risotto + an idea for leftovers

Even though risotto is now the most frequently featuring item on my blog so far it doesn't mean I eat it all the time! In fact I haven't made any since last time I posted about risotto.


I got inspired to combine Serious Eats' recipe, with some elements of the "rødbederisotto" (beetroot risotto) and "grøddeller" (porridge balls - like meat balls, only with porridge) recipes in the grød (porridge) cookery book, by Lasse Skjønning Andersen.
 

Beetroot risotto

Ingredients, serves 4:

300 g Arborio risotto rice
1 L water (or 1 L stock) - I used boiled water
45 mL (3 tbsp) white wine vinegar
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp oil
200 g (1 cup) cooked and pureed beetroot (cooked with pepper, 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp lemon juice)
85 g (3 oz) grated Parmesan cheese
lemon juice (optional)

Method (adapted from Serious Eats) :

Place stock, vinegar, and rice in bowl and swirl round, as described in serious eats' recipe, strain rice through a sieve and leave to drain for 5 minutes.
Melt butter and garlic ( I used setting 6/9) in a big frying pan, add rice and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, add garlic and onion and cook for 1 minute longer.
Add almost all the liquid to frying pan, bring to a simmer, lower hear, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir, then recover and leave for a further 10 minutes, at this stage the rice should be aldente.
Add pureed beetroot and the rest of liquid, increase temperature, and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is creamy, stiring frequently.
Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan and season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Leftover beetroot risotto "waffles"

Ingredients, makes 6:

Leftover risotto (1/3 of the above)
2 eggs
2 tbsp flour
½ small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Fresh herbs, I used 1 tbsp coriander (optional)

Method:

Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl, and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes in order for the liquid to be absorbed. 
 
Brush top and bottom of waffle-iron with oil, and heat up. Fill the iron 75% to allow for spreading. Cook until waffles are golden, and set in the centre. This took about 10 minutes in my waffle machine, but
 it may take more (or less!)
 
Sandwich with baby gem lettuce, between two slices of bread spread with tahini paste. 

Cauliflower and rice risotto with mushrooms

I had some cauliflower and mushrooms to use up, so I decided to make risotto with these. This recipe as such is nothing new, if you require further directions, see today's inspiration or another recipe I tried a few weeks back.

 

Ingredients, serves 2:

2 tbsp butter and olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried rosemary
200 g cauliflower, processed to "rice" in a food processor
100 g risotto-rice
3/4 L vegetable stock
15 ml (1 tbsp) white wine vinegar
200 g mushrooms, cut into pieces

 

Directions

• Heat vegetable stock on a ring, to keep it warm.

• Melt butter and oil and fry onion over low heat for a few minutes until translucent and soft.
• Add garlic, salt, peper and rosemary and fry for a minute.
• Add rice and cauliflower and stir until coated.
• Increase heat, add a ladle of stock and keep stirring until absorbed
• At this point you may want to cook the mushrooms in a non-stick frying pan, I find that I don't need oil as the lovely mushroom juices can manage well on their own. It takes about 15 minutes for them to become soft, at which point they also ooze liquid. Remember to stir, to avoid sticking.
• Continue adding a ladle of stock at a time, stirring until the rice is almost aldente.
• Add white wine vinegar, season to salt and pepper.
• You may want to add cheese, when I do i just tend to add Emmental.

Serve with the cooked mushrooms on top, or mix them in.

Knitting across a snowcovered country

It's been chilly these past few weeks, with lots of snow. The snow is mostly melted now, and I am looking forward to spring.

To keep me warm(er) until spring arrives I started knitting the Phalangees fingered fingerless gloves, whilst on a 5-hour long train journey through snowscapes.

For more details, please see my ravelry project notes.

Welcome!!! + a recipe for a leek quiche

Hello and welcome to StudyEatSew!

My intention with this blog is to keep track of my adventures in sewing and cooking. I won't mention university much, as I am not sure this will interest people.

I originally intended to post this recipe in December, but got caught up studying over Christmas. Exams are nearly over, so you may hopefully see a few more posts from me soon :)

Future posts:

Cooking:

A recipe for sourdough rye-bread, baked in a bread machine.

Sewing: 

Details of some of my previous sewing, knitting and weaving projects. 

Microwaved leek quiche:

About 1 hour, including preparation and cooking.

 

Ingredients:

 

For the pastry:

140 g flour
140 g wholemeal flour
70 g butter, cut into cubes
70 g skyr, or yoghurt ( I find all-butter crusts to heavy, but you can choose to omit this and use 140 g butter in total)
about 6 tbsp water
salt (optional)

 

For the filling:

2 leeks

Oil or butter for cooking in

125 g ricotta cheese
50 ml milk

100 g Emmental cheese
2 eggs
a few sprigs of chopped fresh parsley, or 1 tbsp dried.
1 tbsp dried Tarragon (or less, it can be a bit overpowering)
salt and pepper to taste

 

 

How to:

 

Making and baking the pastry

Mix together both flours and salt (if using) in a bowl. Rub in butter, until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. This can be done by hand, but I prefer to use a pastry blender. When butter gets stuck on the blender, simply scrape off and add to bowl.

Add the skyr or yoghurt and mix until distributed, this can be done by hand, but I prefer to use a spoon or knife.

"Bread crumbs" with skyr

Gradually add the water until the dough holds together, but don't add so much that it becomes sticky!

You may want to leave the dough in the fridge whilst preparing the filling, especially if is too soft, or you have overworked it. Otherwise roll the dough out and line the base and sides of a 25 cm (10 inch) pie dish. My microwave came with a special "Crisp Plate", and a Crisp function, which I use.

I transfer pastry by rolling it onto my rolling pin, lifting it, and unrolling again.

Poke small holes (using non-metal utensil such as a cocktail skewer or fingers) in the pastry, and cook for 5 minutes. This timing will probably work for other microwave ovens too, but check on it to make sure it doesn't burn!

 

Preparing the filling

Top, tail and rinse the leeks. I prefer to slice through the middle to rinse out any earth hiding in there. Heat some oil and/or butter in a frying pan and cook on a low/medium heat for 10 minutes until softened. A trick is to use a low heat, and cover the frying pan with a lid.  

Mix together the ricotta, cheese, egg, milk(you might want to add more, if the space in your dish allows it), tarragon, parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the leeks.

Take out the pastry case and add the filling. Try to ensure that the leeks are covered by filling, to stop them browning prematurely.

Cook for 8 minutes, until filling is set and lightly coloured. Leave to stand for a few minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Conventional cooking:

To cook in a conventional oven follow the following BBC GoodFood's directions, which is to pre-heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6, blind-bake pastry for 20 minutes, brown pastry 5 min, and bake with filling 20-25 minutes.
I just hardly ever have the patience to wait for the conventional oven, especially when I am only cooking for myself.

Please do tell me your thoughts, if you try my recipe!