Herbed Parsnip Risotto

I’ve always had a bit of an antagonistic relationship with Christmas. Throughout December, the festive season and I eye each other with suspicion, circling each other like hawks as I desperately scour the internet attempting to figure out what to buy my loved ones (not for me the anguished Christmas-Eve dash around my local shopping centre. I’m still scarred from the time I did that the world’s worst post-office-Christmas-party-hangover back in 2006.) Then, I finally relent and give into the glow of bad jumpers, unsatisfying mince pies and an unending chorus of ‘Wonderful Christmastime.’ This year, I know the exact time and date I will be filling myself full of Christmas cheer – 12.00pm on Friday when I finish work for two whole glorious weeks. During this period, I intend to do nothing apart from lie on my sofa watching the Darts, pickling myself in good wine and stuffing myself full of the finest pork products. Andy Williams was right – Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.

Until then, I am frantically trying to use up all the leftover odds and ends in my fridge so I can stuff it full of cheese and cheap Prosecco. Last night, I found two shrivelled looking parsnips huddling together at the bottom of my vegetable box, so decided to use them as part of a tasty risotto. Parsnip risotto may sound a bit odd, but I’ve seen Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall make a dish similar to this, and if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me. As it is, the parsnips are caramelised in a mixture of butter and olive oil until they turn brown, soft and sweet. Rice is toasted, wine is added, and chicken stock slowly ladled in until you’re left with a large bowl of soft melting comfort, flecked through with tiny green dashes of rosemary and thyme.

This risotto is the perfect thing to make if you’re looking to use up any leftover Christmas vegetables. Yes, it may look a bit pale and wan, but pale food can be interesting too. Besides, (wo)man can’t live on handfuls of Celebrations and turkey sandwiches alone this festive season. Merry Christmas. 

HERBED PARSNIP RISOTTO (Serves Two)

You will need:

• Two medium sized parsnips, peeled and cut into rounds the thickness of a pound coin
• Two shallots (the small round ones, not the banana ones), peeled and diced
• Three cloves of garlic, diced
• 200g Arborio rice
• One glass of Italian white wine
• 1.5 pints of good quality chicken stock, heated
• 1 tsp Rosemary (preferably fresh, but don’t worry if you’ve only got the dried stuff)
• 1/2 tsp Thyme
• Salt and Pepper to season
• A healthy amount of parmesan, to serve

Make It!

1. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Sauté the parsnips over a gentle heat for three minutes until they are beginning to brown at the edges.
2. Add the chopped shallots and garlic, and cook for another two minutes. Once everything is soft,  add the Arborio rice to the pan, and coat in the mixture. Allow the rice toast lightly for a minute until it begins to turn translucent.
3. Pour in the glass of wine, and stir until fully incorporated. Then, add the hot stock, ladleful by ladleful, until it is all adsorbed and the rice is creamy and tender. Don’t be afraid to keep stirring the pan and tasting the mixture during this process, seasoning where appropriate.
4. Stir in the rosemary, thyme and parmesan cheese. Serve immediately with the rest of the wine.

Chicken and Bacon Risotto

Griping about the weather is one of those peculiarly British tropes I’ve never quite got the hang of.  Blame my American blood. One moment, people are complaining that it’s blowing a gale outside and they’re having to put the central heating on, and the next they’re getting annoyed about the fact that it’s 30 degrees outside which means they have to bare their pasty white legs to the world. However, let me add my voice to the legions of moaners by saying that our current spell of hot/damp/windy weather is pissing me off something rotten. Namely because I have no idea how to dress. Do I wear jeans and sandals to the office and run the risk of contracting trench foot? Or do I wear a skirt which will inevitably catch in a gust of wind and reveal my knickers to everyone on the number 86 bus? It’s a sartorial minefield and then some.

It’s also pretty annoying when it comes to deciding what I’m going to make for dinner. As a rule, I dislike making stodgy dishes in Summer, feeling that instead I should be embracing all the recipes I see in my blog reader for quinoa salads and courgette quiches. But the other night it was cold, wet and all I wanted to do was drink wine and make a rather-unseasonable risotto. So, I did.

There’s something immensely soothing about the act of making risotto. All of that stirring and chopping and occasionally taking huge slugs of wine out of the bottle when no one’s looking. If, like me, you are also incurably lazy, you can also pretend that it’s a form of exercise and you’re toning your arm muscles by rotating a wooden spoon repeatedly around a pan ensuring your rice doesn’t burn. I made mine with chicken and bacon – arguably the Lennon and McCartney of the meat world – first rendering down all the fat from the bacon and cooking each ingredient in all of that delicious porky grease.  The end result was delicious – toothsome rice, soft chicken, a slight zing from the lemon zest and plenty of parmesan grated over the top. It may not be the most summery of dishes, but last time I checked, it’s not the most summery of August’s out there either. Which is why I’ll be making this again. Soon. Probably whilst wearing 100 denier tights.

CHICKEN AND BACON RISOTTO  (Serves Two)

You will need:

• 250g arborio rice
• 4 rashers of good quality bacon, chopped into bitesized pieces
• A good handful of leftover roast chicken, skinned and chopped
• 1.3 litres of chicken stock (fresh if possible)
• 100ml dry white wine
• 2 fat cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 50g parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and lemon zest

Make It!

1. Start by frying the bacon in a tablespoon of olive oil. Once it’s starting to turn brown at the edges, add the chopped shallots and garlic until they turn soft.
2. Add the rice, and stir it thoroughly until it’s coated in the bacon grease. Add the wine and stir it through until it’s all been soaked up by the rice. Feel free to drink some of the wine whilst you’re doing this.
3. Then, start to add your stock to the rice. Add a ladleful and when it’s been soaked up, add another ladleful. Repeat until the rice had turned creamy and is firm to the bite.
4. When you add the final ladle of stock, add the chopped chicken to your saucepan and and stir through. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, chopped parsley and Parmesan, leave to rest for a few mins, then stir through and serve. I ate this whilst watching Dominic West and Ben Whishaw looking all hot and pouty in The Hour, but quite frankly, I imagine that this would work just as well being eaten off your lap whilst watching Eastenders.