Primavera Risotto - Spring Vegetable Risotto

Spring is here, everything is turning green and it’s the perfect time to make this primavera risotto. For this recipe I’ve made the most of ingredients that are in season like courgette, peas and spinach but you can use any seasonal vegetables you have at home - I also love to add asparagus too when it’s available. To make this risotto even more vibrant, creamy and fresh I’ve blitzed the peas, spinach, mint and cheese together to make a super green, silky sauce! 

Serves: 2
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Ingredients

• 180g arborio rice  
• 1 small brown onion, finely chopped
• 100ml white wine 
• 2 small or 1 large courgette, chopped into 1cm cubes
• 100g fresh or frozen peas 
• 100g fresh spinach 
• 2 sprigs of mint (leaves picked and stalk discarded) 
• 70g Grana Padano (cubed with some extra shaved to garnish at the end)
• 2 tbsp butter 
• 750ml vegetable stock, plus extra 
• Fine sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. In pan on a medium heat, start by toasting the rice. Toast it for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until it's nice and hot to the touch. Remove it from the pan and set it aside
2. In the same pan add a glug of olive oil. Add the diced onion and cook slowly, stirring occasionally to prevent them from catching, until they are nice and soft.
3. Stir back in the toasted rice and season with a good pinch of salt. Turn the heat to a medium high and add the wine. Let it simmer for a minute or two until slightly reduced. 
4. Keeping the pan on a medium heat, gradually start adding the vegetable stock to the rice, one ladle at a time, stirring continuously until the liquid is absorbed before adding more, until the rice is fully cooked.
5. While the risotto is cooking, add the butter to a large frying pan on a medium heat. As soon the butter melts stir in the courgette and season with a good pinch of salt. Cook them for a few minutes or until they're still a little bit al dente so they still have a bite later on when you add them to the risotto. Then set them a side. Meanwhile keep adding the vegetable stock to the rice and stirring continuously.
6. To the same pan you cooked the courgette in, add the spinach and the peas along with a ladle of the vegetable stock. Cover and cook for three minutes on a medium heat. 
7. Use an immersion blender or a food processor to blitz all together the cooked spinach and the peas, the cubes of cheese and the fresh mint. Add a bit of the extra stock when blitzing until you have a smooth, velvety and super green sauce. 
8. When the rice is fully cooked, turn the heat off and stir in most of the courgette (saving some to garnish at the end) followed by that super green salsa. Give it a good stir to combine. Add a little bit of butter, give it another good stir, cover with the lid and let it rest for 5 minutes. 
9. Serve up each plate of risotto with the remaining courgette and some shaved cheese on top. Enjoy!

Watch the recipe video

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