Baked risotto with greens and peas
Baked risotto with greens and peas
This lovely textural risotto is an excerpt from Easy Weeknight Dinners by Emily Weinstein.
Recipe headnote by Kay Chun: This easy baked risotto eliminates the constant stirring required in traditional risotto recipes. It’s laden with vegetables, namely kale and spinach, but other leafy greens like Swiss chard or collard greens would work equally well. If you happen to have some extra asparagus, sub it in for the peas. This risotto makes a great starter or side dish, but you can also turn it into a vegetarian main course by using vegetable or mushroom stock in place of the chicken broth, and topping it with sautéed mushrooms, a fried egg or crispy tofu slices. Leftovers can be refrigerated for two days and reheated with more broth, or repurposed into crunchy rice cakes or arancini. Simply form into patties or balls,
Copyright: Recipe by Kay Chun, excerpted with permission from Easy Weeknight Dinners by Emily Weinstein, Ten Speed Publishing 2024. The below recipe has been adapted by Hetty Lui McKinnon for To Vegetables, With Love.
Serves 4 / gluten free
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow/brown onion
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup Arborio rice (about 7 ounces / 200g)
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 4 ounces green or lacinato kale (about ⅓ bunch), stems separated and thinly sliced, leaves stacked and cut into 1/4-inch-thick ribbons (about 4 packed cups)
- 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 4 ounces baby spinach (about 4 packed cups)
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 3/4 cup grated Parmesan (3 ounces), plus more for garnish
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Heat oven to 375˚F / 190˚C. In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, 1 minute. Add rice, season with salt and pepper, and stir until coated in oil and lightly toasted, 2 minutes.
Add kale, season with salt and pepper, and stir until wilted, 30 seconds. Add broth and bring to a boil over high heat.
Cover and bake until almost all of the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
Stir in spinach and peas until spinach is wilted. Add Parmesan, butter and lemon juice, and stir until well blended and saucy. (Liquid will continue to absorb as risotto sits.) Season with salt and pepper. Serve in bowls and top with more Parmesan.