Baked vegetable rissoto

There are times that I struggle to get the oomph for 16.9 minutes at the stove, wooden spoon in hand, stirring and stirring my risotto to creaminess. So I don’t, I relax, pour a glass of wine, put the risotto inside a hot oven to bake and step away from the oven and forget about it for 20 minutes. You can virtually change this risotto up with whatever ingredients you have at hand according to the seasons. I have been thoroughly enjoying the new season broad beans with just about everything and they go beautifully with this risotto. I love how they enliven it up from tasting too stodgy, and the fresh herbs, cheese and lemon juice makes this really fresh tasting.

Tomato and pumpkin risotto with fresh broad beans

Ingredients
200grams arborio rice
Stick of finely diced celery
One small onion diced
Two garlic clove chopped to a paste
One carrot finely chopped
25 grams butter
4x tablespoons of olive oil
Half a cup of white wine
400 gram tin of Italian chopped tomatoes
500 mls of chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup of pumpkin diced to 1.5 cms big
Bag of fresh broad beans
Parmesan cheese
Fresh flat leaf parsley
Lemons
A cast iron with a lid is ideal to cook this in.

1. Preheat your oven to 200 deg. On top of your stove Heat oil and butter over gentle heat and cool celery, onion, garlic and carrot for 7-10 minutes until they have softened but not browned. Add the pumpkin.

2. Add the rice and increase the heat a little so it toasts for about 30 seconds or so. Then add the wine, wait for it to evaporate.

3. Add the tomatoes, stock and butter. Bring to the boil then clamp on a lid and place in your hot oven for approx 20 – 25 minutes. Start checking it at 20 minutes to make sure it does not dry out and that it is cooked enough.
Once cooked remove from oven and stir through Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped herbs. Then check for seasoning. Place the lid back on for it to sit for a minute.

4. Put the kettle on. Get your broad beans podded. Place a pot on the stove with hot boiling salted water. Drop the broad beans into the boiling water to cook until they go bright green or 2-4 minutes depending if they are very small or very big.

5. Remove and drain and refresh in ice cold water. Dress with best olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt.

6. To serve, spoon risotto into bowl and spoon broad beans over the top of the risotto and eat immediately. I recommend lots of freshly cracked black pepper.