Happy Sunday all! It is a very beautiful day and I am freezing my nips off. I hope your nips are well. Today I’m going to show you my staple recipe: Spanish Risotto. Is it really Spanish? Is it really risotto? I don’t really know anymore. I first looked up what would become this recipe when trying to find a use for chorizo and prawns, so if you want an option with dead things in, use them.

As it is, I use a variety of Spanishy things for this dish, the stars being the capsicum and black beans. If I could put them in every dish, I would. I mean, I can. But I won’t because that would be gross. Anyway, check out this slightly blurry photo of most of the ingredients! Fun!

I love the bright and vibrant colours of this dish. It’s the same palette as Maccas, but I tell myself it’s healthy. Which, relatively, it is. It’s also heaps yum and it’s easy to make loads. You start of the dish as you start many dishes, by heating up oil in a nice pot and sautéing your onions until they’re translucent, then your garlic for a bit and theeen we get to the actual cooking.

Once your garlic is getting fragrant, put in a tiny bit more oil, and chuck in your rice, capsicum and beans. At this point you want to be stirring quickly, so the rice doesn’t burn or stick to your pot. Whilst you are stirring with one hand and taking photos for your blog with the other, chuck in a couple of sprigs of thyme, a pinch of cut up Rosemary, a dash of paprika and a dash of cayenne pepper. I am sorry those are vague measurements. Just remember you can always add more.



Once the rice is well coated in oil and spices, pour in 3/4 cup of white wine. They say you should never cook with wine you wouldn’t drink, but I’ll drink anything put in front of me, so people should stop being snobs. Stir, stir, cook cook until most of the wine has evaporated. This is is the most exciting and nice smelling step of the cook, because wine SIZZLES.

Once most of the wine is gone, ladle in a cup of stock, bring to the boil, and reduce to a gentle simmer, uncovered. Now we come to the long part of the cook. I hope you have saved some wine for yourself.



What we do now is wait for the rice to absorb most of the stock, whilst occasionally stirring, and then we… Ladle in another cup of stock! This usually takes between 5 and 10 minutes.

This is a good dish to make with company, because it takes a while, but doesn’t require constant focus. Also, you can get your friends to chop everything up for you. Also, apparently it’s also better to drink with company. Here’s a photo of me chilling with my friends:

Oh would you look at that, it’s time to ladle in the last half cup of stock. Your rice should be beautifully yellowy and fat by now. You want it soft, but with a slightly firm structure. Stir in your corn in this final stage, and also a tablespoon of Nutritional Yeast if you are vegan and want it extra creamy.



Now you just stir it all together, wait for the last of the liquid to be absorbed, and hey presto, you have your risotto. Take it off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes so it can can condense. Serve with a wedge of lemon and some wine from your second bottle of the $4 stuff. Parsley also adds a nice bit of colour to the dish, but I forgot to pick some.

And there you have it: Spanish Risotto. I hope you enjoy this dish. I really do. I find it filling and creamy and nice. Until next time, may you have many fun, peaceful and wholesome thoughts! Proper recipe below:

SPANISH. RISOTTO

Serves: 4-6

INGREDIENTS

1 Yellow Onion, diced

3 Cloves of Garlic, diced

1 Can Black Beans, rinsed and drained

2 Red Capsicum, cut into bite sized pieces

1 1/2 Cups Arborio Rice

2 Sprigs fresh Thyme, de-stemmed

1 Small Sprig Rosemary, finely cut

Dash of Paprika

(Optional) Dash of Cayenne Pepper

3/4 Cups Dry White Wine

2 1/2 Cups Vegetable Stock

50g Corn Kernels

(Optional) 1 Tbs Nutritional Yeast

(Optional) Sprig of Fresh Parsley, to garnish

1 Lemon, cut into wedges to garnish

METHOD

1. Heat olive oil in deep pot over medium high heat. Add onion, cook until translucent, 3-5 minutes.

2. Add garlic, cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.

3. Add, in this order, tsp oil, beans, capsicum, rice and spices. Stir rapidly to coat the rice in oil and spices, 1-2 minutes.

4. Add wine, stir and cook until wine has mostly evaporated. 3-4 minutes.

5. Ladle in one cup of vegetable stock, stir into mixture. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Once most of the liquid has been absorbed, 5-10 minutes, ladle in another cup of stock and repeat the same process, 5-10 minutes.

6. Ladle in last half cup of stock, along with corn kernels and nutritional yeast. Stir well, wait for rice to absorb last of liquid, 3-5 minutes.

7. Remove from heat, let sit for 5 minutes, then serve with parsley and lemon.