- 1 onion
- 45g butter
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 2 garlic cloves
- 200g risotto rice
- 100g purple sprouting broccoli
- 100g Kalettes®
- 1 tbsp basil oil
- 25g pine nuts
- ½ x 100g cheddar
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 800ml boiling water
- Large pan
- Measuring jug
- Baking tray
- 1.
Preheat your oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Fill and boil your kettle. Peel and finely chop the onion. Melt the butter in a large pan on a mediumlow heat then add the onion and a small pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring every so often, for 8-10 mins till the onion has softened.
- 2.
Meanwhile, crumble the stock cube into a heatproof jug and stir in 800ml boiling water to dissolve it. Peel and grate or crush the garlic. Stir it into the onion, along with the rice. Cook and stir for 3 mins.
- 3.
Add around 100ml of the stock to the pan. Cook, stirring once or twice, till the rice has absorbed the stock. Continue to add and the stock, 100ml at a time, stirring till absorbed, till you have around 400ml stock left. This should take around 15 mins.
- 4.
While the risotto cooks, trim the dry ends off the purple sprouting broccoli, then chop the stems into bite-sized pieces. Separate the pieces of stem from the soft florets. Pop the Kalettes® in a bowl of cold water and swirl them round to remove any sand, then rinse with cold water. Trim off the dry bases and halve any large Kalettes®.
- 5.
Place the pieces of broccoli stem and the Kalettes® on a baking tray and drizzle over ½ tbsp basil oil. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Slide into the oven and roast for 15 mins. Then add the pine nuts and roast for 3-4 mins more. The veg should be lightly charred and the pine nuts browned.
- 6.
While the veg roast, add the tender broccoli tips to the risotto and pour in another 100ml stock. Cook, stirring as before, then add the remaining stock, and cook and stir till most of the stock has been absorbed. It should take you around 30 mins in total to cook the risotto and it should be ready just as the veg finish roasting.
- 7.
Meanwhile, coarsely grate half the cheddar. When you've added all the stock to the risotto and the rice and veg are tender, stir most of the grated cheddar (keep a few pinches back for serving) into the risotto. Stir, taste the risotto and add a pinch more salt or pepper if needed.
- 8.
Spoon the risotto into 2 warm bowls. Top with the roast veg, the remaining cheddar, the pine nuts and ½ tbsp basil oil to serve.
- Tip
Extra Cheesy
You can use all the cheddar in this recipe if you like, although this will affect the nutritional information. Any leftover cheddar will keep in the fridge, wrapped, for a few days.