With the winter months looming, I’m delighted to see so many hearty, stodgy, comforting dishes throughout the blogisphere. There are so many gorgeous stews, casseroles and bakes out there; I’m in my element!
Another meal perfect for the colder evenings is risotto; one of my favourite comfort foods. If you love risotto too, you should have a gander at my Chicken & Chorizo Risotto, or my Veggie friendly Parmesan & Mushroom Risotto.
This one, however, takes pride of place as my current favourite. The prosciutto and rocket were on special offer, and the cream cheese was only 59p, so that’s how this recipe came about! 🙂
Here’s what I did.
Ingredients (Serves 3-4)
300g Arborio Rice
2 cloves garlic, minced
100g prosciutto (6 slices)
150g rocket salad
100g soft cheese
2 chicken stock cubes in 1ltr water
1 Knorr herb infusion stock pot (optional)
First I fried the prosciutto similar to the way you’d fry bacon, and set aside on some kitchen paper until the end.
You don’t have to cook the prosciutto, but I wanted the crispy texture.
Next, I toasted the risotto and garlic in the meat juices for a few minutes, before adding a ladleful of stock. I stirred this for a few minutes until the rice absorbed the liquid, then added another ladleful. I made sure to stir constantly, in case the risotto stuck to the bottom of the pan.
This process continued until the stock was finished and the risotto was Al dente (around 25-30 minutes). About half way through, I remembered Jan from A Glug of Oil had sent me some Knorr Herb Infusion stock pots, amongst the other goodies I won in her giveaway (thanks again, Jan!). I decided to pop one straight into my risotto, and it smelled divine; a surprising explosion of flavours!
When the risotto was ready, I took off the heat and added my cream cheese…
After stirring it into creamy wonderment, I stirred in my prosciutto and rocket salad.
I served this with some garlic bread. It was incredibly tasty!
I’d quite like to experiment with different types of cheeses in my future risottos (I think it would be a good way to try the scary looking ones that a seasoned cheddar-eater like myself usually steers clear of). Any suggestions?
Also, I’ve recently become (even more) obsessed with menu planning. I’ve had a spreadsheet for a good year or two now, documenting my meals (I can’t believe I just told you that. How utterly geeky of me!), but never really looked beyond a few days for my meals.
I’m a massive fan of the Old Style MSE threads, where they all menu-plan to perfection, and I take a lot of inspiration from them. My newest toy, however, is the menu planner on Big Oven. Any tips you’d like to share on meal planning?
Have a good week everyone 🙂 x
You could try Mexicana cheese for a hot kick or applewood smoked cheddar (llaaar) it’s so rich, creamy and smokey – full of deliciousness!
I love cheese!
I think the wee herb roulade that you get would be good in risotto too cause it’s a soft cream cheese but sooo tasty!
That’s a couple for you to try, you can come up with the other ingredients to accompany them 😛 xx
Good GOD, Heather, I’m drooling! I love cheese too, it makes everything better 😀 I’m going to have to try all three of these (especially the roulade one; that sounds tremendous!). I shall keep you informed 😀 xx
I think we were seperated at birth 😉 I love wintery food like this, and meal plan religiously, and am a lurker on the mse boards (the homemade hobnobs are awesome btw!) Meal planning wise I like to consider myself a ‘trier’ as currently have the whole of November virtually planned but working shifts its a bloomin nightmare to be honest at times, and most likely about half will change before the month is out! Best piece of advice is to look seriously at cupboards BEFORE you go shopping, and try and plan accordingly..and not buy things on a whim. Though I do frequently fail on that part!
Have not tried the herb pots yet but I’m a convert to their stock pots, will have to keep my eye out for any offers on them! The risotto looks lush!
If you are looking to experiment with cheeses other than cheddar in risotto, may I suggest my blue cheese and sweet potato version? Its gentle enough introduction to blue’s I think: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/13202/sweet-potato-risotto
I’ll take heed of your advice, Anne, and make a wee cupboard/freezer inventory before I menu plan. I like having something to work with 🙂
oooh homemade hobnobs :’) I just gained 3lbs thinking about them haha!
Your risotto looks fabulous, I’ll definitely need to give it a try, along with your barley risotto mmm! 🙂
Glad you’re using the stock cubes! This dish of yours looks amazing!
Thanks, Jan, the stock cubes are excellent 🙂