With the husband out of town, I figured I can spend my time making things he will not eat. One thing he will not eat: beets. Now I have only had beets once before. I think they were from a can for some holiday at my mother-in-law’s place. I have only eaten risotto once, in Paris. It was a beautiful Salmon Risotto from a place that I cannot remember the name of, but it was amazing. I was very glad to see Bea at La Tartine Gourmande posted this recipe a week or so ago. I just tried to duplicate it. The results… I think it was pretty good, especially coming from someone who never has made risotto or cooked with beets before! The lesson I learned: peel and dice the beets before boiling them!

My Photo ~ Bea’s Recipe

Red Beet Risotto
(For 4 people)

You need:

• 1.5 cups Carnaroli or Arborio rice
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 8 3/4 oz red cooked beets, peeled and diced
• 1 large shallot (150 g) + 1 extra shallot
• Zest of 1 organic orange
• 1 oz hazelnut powder
• 1.5 oz parmesan grated and shaved
• 9 Tbsp dry white wine
• 1 Tbsp tarragon, chopped
• 1 Tbsp basil, chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp butter
• About 3 Tbsp pine nuts, dry-roasted
• Salt and pepper

Steps:

• Cook the beets, peel and dice them (ashleystravel says: I boiled them).
• Chop the first shallot.
• Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil with 1 Tbsp butter in a sauté pan. Add the shallot and cook for a few min before adding the diced beets. Cook for 5 mns or so on medium to low heat, add the orange zest and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and reduce into a purée, using a food processor if you have one. Keep on the side.
• Heat the chicken stock and keep warm.
• Chop the tarragon and basil.
• Grate 2/3 of the parmesan. Shave the rest and keep on the side.
• Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil with 1 Tbsp butter in a pot and add the second chopped shallot. Cook for 2 to 3 min before adding the rice to coat for 1 min.
• Then add the white wine and cook until it is absorbed.
• Add 1 ladleful of warm broth and wait until it is absorbed to add another one. Repeat until you have 1 ladleful left.
• Add the beet purée with the hazelnut flour, and mix gently. Check your rice and add more broth accordingly.
• Stop the heat, add the grated parmesan, the herbs and the rest of the butter. Cover and let rest for 2 min.
• Serve with shaved parmesan, fresh basil leaves and dry-roasted pine nuts.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 25th, 2007 at 7:43 pm and is filed under Vegetables. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.