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View Full Version : Here's A great Risotto Recipe


kima
04-24-2001, 02:01 PM
Thought I'd share this one..it is foolproof ( I would Know!)

Baked Risotto with Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

2 pkg. fresh spinach,trimmed
2 Leeks
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 1/2c. Arborio or other short grain rice
3 cloves garlic, minced
7c. hot chicken or vegetable stock
4 oz. light herb and garlic cream cheese or herbed goat cheese
1/2 c. chopped oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
1/3c. grated parmean cheese

Rinse spinach and shake off excess water. In a large pot, cover spinach and cook over medium heat, with just the water clinging to the leaves for about 5 mins. or until wilted. Drain and squeeze dry: chop finely and set aside.
Meanwhile , trim roots and tough green leaves from leeks; cut in half length wise. Separate leaves and rinse under cold water to remove the grit.
In a large nonstick skillet, melt 1 tbsp. of the butter over medium heat. Cook leeks, stirring, until softened. Add the spinach, salt, pepper and nutmeg; cook stirring occasionally for 5-7 mins.
In a Dutch oven, heat remaining butter over medium heat; cook rice and garlic, stirring for 2 mins. Add 5c. of the stock;bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low cover and simmer for 15 mins. or until the rice is almost tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.
Stir in the remaining stock and cream cheese until blended;add spinach mixture and tomatoes.
Spread in a greased 13x9 baking dish. Sprinkle with parmesan.
(Can be made a head and chilled in the fridge for up to 1 day)
Bake in 350 F oven for 25-30 mins. or until the centre is piping hot and the top is golden.

Hints: You can use dry packed sun-dried tomatoes reconstituted in boiling water.
I used onions instead of the leeks.
This is a real winner and comes from the Nov. 1999 issue of Canadian Living. I'd love to hear what you all think of it!

AndreaU
04-24-2001, 02:42 PM
Thank you for posting this... I am such a big fan of risotto! This will definitely join my collection of recipes. I'm going shopping today, so I'll be sure to pick up some spinach & leeks! Can't wait to try it.

cjm
04-24-2001, 02:53 PM
kima-thanks for the post. This sounds good!! I'm wondering if I could add chicken/seafood/meat of some sort to convert to a "main dish"?

Any suggestions?

[This message has been edited by cjm (edited 04-24-2001).]

kima
04-24-2001, 03:21 PM
I am not sure about adding meat or chicken to this dish - I imagine you could- it would have to be cooked of course. I do think shrimp would be a wonderful addition, I personally do eat this as a main dish- but we are vegetarians! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif
I am sure when some of the creative chefs on this board get hold of this recipe all sorts of variations will be created.

lindrusso
04-24-2001, 06:15 PM
Oh, that sounds good! Copying yet another recipe into Mastercook..... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

jd
04-24-2001, 07:04 PM
kima, two questions:
1. what size are the bags of spinach?
2. do you have the nutritional analysis?
This looks great - I'll be trying it soon!

kima
04-24-2001, 07:30 PM
Thanks for the questions Jd- fortunately I hhave the answers!!
Each package of spinach is 10 oz. and here is the nutritional stuff:
Per serving; about 381 cal, 14g protein, 10g total fat (5g sat. fat) 58g card, 4g fibre,25mg. chol, 1,066 mg sodium

Jen
04-25-2001, 08:16 PM
Just one more question...how many servings does this make?

Thanks for sharing - it looks perfect for entertaining!! I'll have to give it a try.

kima
04-25-2001, 09:15 PM
This is great for entertaining- as I said it always turns out well and it is great to have something you can throw in the oven and not fuss with. This dish serves 6-8 people.
Do let me know what you think of it!!

Mousie29
04-30-2001, 07:25 AM
WE liked this alot!!

I halved the recipe (but used more goat cheese proportionally).

For the risotto, I was concerned about the risotto not turning out tender, but it did. ( I did do a lot more stirring than it called for and kept it covered for only 6 min. at boil, not 15.).

Thanks!

LenaS
05-30-2001, 04:32 AM
Hi Kima - just came across this amazing recipe, do you think 2 packages of the frozen chopped spinach would work? I have washing and 'snipping' the packages of fresh???????

Thanks Lena

kima
05-30-2001, 03:20 PM
This really is a great dish Lena! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif I have used two packages of thawed frozen spinach myself with great results. Just be sure and squeeze out all the moisture. Good Luck- let me know how it turns out!

[This message has been edited by kima (edited 05-30-2001).]

laughsandlaughs
05-30-2001, 03:28 PM
I totally think risotto makes a great main dish without any meat. And we Americans eat way too much meat-based protein anyway, a vegetarian dinner occasionally is good for us!

aggie94
06-06-2001, 10:25 AM
I made this risotto last night and thought it was pretty good. BUT, it took over 2 hours! This was a very time-consuming dish to make, and for the effort, I just didn't think it was worth it. Of course, I did make some modifications to the recipe. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

I halved the recipe, and after reading it, decided there was NO WAY I was going to first wilt the spinach, then drain, squeeze, and chop it. So I just chopped it and added it to the leeks while they were cooking. That was fine, but it took forever to chop a 10 oz. bag of baby spinach -- thank god I didn't make the full recipe!

Then, I was skeptical about just cooking the rice in most of the stock, and adding the rest of the stock before baking. (I don't like my risotto really wet; plus, I don't have a nonstick Dutch oven and wasn't jazzed about cleaning stuck-on rice off my stainless pot). So, I cooked the rice like I would with any other risotto, adding 1/3 cup of stock at a time. I'm guessing that took considerably longer than the original recipe would have.

In any event, this risotto reminded me a lot of the leek & mascarpone cheese risotto, except not as good and much more effort. That said, I probably won't make it again.

(No offense, Kim -- thanks for sharing the recipe!)

valchemist
06-06-2001, 11:07 PM
Hey aggie94,

we do like to hear all sides...

I have a feeling that the following happens quite often:

1. someone makes a recipe that was written by a bb'er or highly recommended by a bb'er or loved by the majority of bb'ers.

2. the person who made the recipe doesn't like how the recipe came out.

3. the person decides not to post a review because they don't want to offend anyone or becasue they think they are so out of the norm that it isn't worth posting.

I have to admit that I am guilty of that, unfortunately.

so thanks for your post. everyone has different tastes and different opinions so it is nice to hear a variety of responses.

Val