- Serves 4 - Ready in 40 minutes -
Gather together…
1 tbsp rapeseed oil / olive oil. 1 onion, thinly sliced and diced (to save time day-to-day, I keep a big box of onions I've chopped ahead-of-time, in the freezer, so I throw in 2 handfuls of those). 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed (or 1 tsp lazy garlic). 1.5 cups (300g when weighed on scales) dry risotto rice. 1/2 stock cube / 1tsp 'Marigold Less Salt Swiss Vegetable Bouillon powder' (available in bulk 1kg tubs).
1 litre hot water.
Pinch of ground black pepper. 150g (2 big handfuls) frozen peas - DON'T add these until the last 5 min. Handful of fresh (or frozen) Mint leaves, finely chopped - I buy / grow herbs in bulk and then chop and freeze them, to save time when cooking.
1 pack of halloumi cheese, cut into 1cm-wide slices.
Serve with…
Leafy green salad.
Get cooking…
1. Heat the 1 tbsp of oil in a large, oven-proof, lidded casserole dish / pan on a LOW heat on the hob and gently soften the finely chopped onion for 5 minutes, stirring often.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/Gas 4.
3. Add the peeled and chopped garlic clove to the dish / pan and cook for 1 minute more.
4. Boil a kettle full of water (for the stock).
5. Turn OFF the heat under the pan (temporarily).
6. Add the 1.5 cups of dry risotto rice to the dish / pan on the hob and stir to coat.
7. Sieve in the dry the 1tsp of stock powder (to avoid clumps), add the 1 litre of boiling water and a little freshly ground black pepper. Turn the hob back ON to a medium heat.
8. Bring to the boil on the hob (this can take up to 5 minutes of heating, stirring a few times).
9. Put the LID ON and pop the risotto in the oven for 15 minutes. DO NOT ADD PEAS YET! – or they go a greyish colour.
10. After the oven time is up, stir and add the 2 handfuls of peas and the handful of chopped mint leaves, lay the slices of halloumi on top of the risotto and put it back into the oven to GRILL for 5 minutes (with the LID OFF, obviously) until the halloumi has browned (and the peas have heated through).
11. Remove from the oven and serve with a salad. I never re-heat rice dishes due to the risk of food-poisoning, so eat this all up whilst it is still piping hot, or cool it rapidly and then keep it in the fridge to eat cold the next day.
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