I’ve only made risotto once, ten years ago with beetroot then too, and it was such a tedious process for a not particularly wow tasting meal that I never tried it again.  The timely appearance of this BBC Good Food creamy beetroot risotto recipe the day after talking to Mangocheeks at Allotment2Kitchen about my last beetroot risotto attempt persuaded me to give risotto making another try.  That and the plaintive pleas of these allotment beets calling to me from the fridge.  The promise of a risotto recipe with minimal stirring on the stove and earthy oven roasted flavours, how could you not want to try it?

The first picture doesn’t really show just how fabulously pink this dish is.  The results of photographing food in the evening is so frustrating that I’m venturing  out to Gloucester Camera Club tonight to see if I can pick up any tips.  In the meantime a spoonful of leftovers and a dash of morning sunshine shows you what it really looked like.

I halved the ingredients to make a meal for two and served it with warm ciabatta bread, spinach and courgettes from the allotment and shop bought broccolli.  Roasting the beetroot definitely gives it more flavour and a softer texture.

Making creamy beetroot risotto

• 250g fresh beetroot
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• knob of butter
• 1/2 onion , finely chopped
• 1/2 garlic clove , finely chopped
• 125g risotto rice *
• 75ml white wine
• 350ml hot vegetable stock
• 1/2 handful grated parmesan
• 2tbsp soured cream
• handful chopped dill

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.   Peel and trim the beetroots (use kitchen gloves if you don’t want your hands to get stained) and cut into large wedges.   Place on a large sheet of foil on a baking sheet.  Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil, season, then cook for 1 hr until the beets are soft (Nic’s note – smaller beets cook much quicker 30-45 minutes)

Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil with the butter in an ovenproof pan with a lid.  Tip in the onion and garlic, then cook for 3-5 mins until translucent.  Stir in the rice until well coated with the butter and oil.  Pour over the white wine, then let the mixture bubble away for 5 mins.  (Nic’s note – also fine when wine is forgotten and added after the stock!)

Stir well, then pour over the stock.  Stir again, cover and place in the oven.  Cook for 15 mins until the rice is soft.  Remove the beetroots from the oven.  Whizz ¼ of them to make a purée, then chop the remainder into small pieces.  Stir most of the Parmesan, the beetroot purée and chopped beetroot through the risotto, then serve with some soured cream dolloped over and the dill and extra Parmesan scattered on top.  (Nic’s note – very tasty risotto, even more so when the cream is dolloped over and not forgotten in the fridge!)

* I didn’t have any arborio rice so made do with pudding rice.  I’m not entirely sure what the difference is and a chef would probably tut tut loudly but it looked and tasted alright to me!