Beetroot Risotto with Ancient Grains
A delicious and special risotto made from a mix of ancient grains- made even better with the addition of fresh beetroot. Tasty and completely more-ish!
Beetroot oh, how I love you!
Your beautiful red juice and gorgeous earthy flavour, I’m such a fan, but you probably know that, right? Beetroot humus, beetroot pancakes, beetroot flapjacks, beetroot curry and now beetroot risotto–it was only a matter of time, eh?
This risotto is super special because I made it with a lovely mix of organic ancient grains (spelt, pearl barley, red lentils and green mung beans) which adds a lovely variety of textures and flavours and also additional nutrition.
You can, of course, make it with arborio rice, but I think this mix really enhances the flavour and definitely the texture.
I made this delicious beetroot risotto for two reasons firstly because I’m supporting #OrganicSeptember, so the guys at Mr Organic kindly sent me some of their delicious range of products which included some gorgeous beetroot powder from Of The Earth. It’s such a vivid red colour it inspired me to make a beautiful richly red beetroot risotto, again can out tell I’m going for maximum beetroot here!
And the other reason was that our lovely friend Ben was coming for dinner–we had a lovely night, chatted, ate risotto and planned some recipe videos which we’ll be making in a few weeks time.
I’m so excited! What do you think I should make first? Sweet or savoury…. hmm decisions.
So I think (hope) if you’re a beetroot fan, you’ll love this one. Love, Niki xx.
Ingredients
- 3 organic beetroots trimmed
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic sliced thinly
- 2 cups Mr Organic ancient grains or arborio rice
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 2 pints veg stock
- Water if needed
- 3 tsp beetroot powder optional
- 2 tsp sea salt
- Big twist black pepper
- Squeeze lemon
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts toasted
Instructions
- Cook the beetroots by placing them in a saucepan of warm water, bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook until tender–approx 20-30 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the onion and oil to a large frying pan and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes until the onion is nice and soft and caramelising.
- Next, add the garlic and stir for a few minutes, then add in the grains and stir throughly to coat all the grains.
- Poor in the wine and turn up the heat a little. Again stir to combine and let the wine and cook off a couple of minutes.
- Add in 1 cup of your veg stock and continue to add a cup when the grains look dry.
- After a couple of cups of stock, chop the beetroot into cubes and then stir throughly to mix into the risotto.
- Continue stirring and adding stock for approx 30 minutes until the grains are tender.
- Season well with salt, pepper, squeeze lemon and beetroot powder (optional).
- Top with lots of toasted hazelnuts.
4 Responses
Hi,
I don’t want to use red wine, or any alcohol. Is there any substitute I can use? Thanks!
You can just leave it out.
Love
Niki xxx
Beetroot, beetroot, oh how I NEED to try you! LOL! I know I’m so bad XD but anyways, this looks amazing, and I would love to recreate this recipe someday!
Hey Cassie!
It’s the best!
Hope you’re well lovely?
Niki xxx