BEETROOT RISOTTO WITH FETA, CRISPY SAGE & TOASTED HAZELNUTS
Whenever I have a little time in the evening, I love to play some good music and stand over the stove stirring a risotto. I find it always serves as a reminder of why I fell in love with cooking. And when beetroots are in season, this one is always my top choice.
Ingredients
- 500 g fresh beetroot
- olive oil
- 750 ml hot vegetable stock
- 25 g hazelnuts
- 15 sage leaves
- 1 white onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 250 g risotto rice
- 150 ml dry white wine
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
- to serve: vegan feta cheese optional
Instructions
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Heat oven to 180°c (fan assisted)/390°f/gas mark 6.
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Peel and trim the beetroots and chop them into chunks. Transfer to a baking tray and toss with a glug of olive oil and a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Roast for 50 minutes-1 hour, or until soft all the way through. Blitz 1/2 of the beetroot with a little of the vegetable stock in a blender until completely smooth, then combine with the remaining stock. Chop the other half of the roasted beetroot into small pieces.
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Whilst the beetroot is roasting, you can prepare the toppings. Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast alongside the beetroot for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown and crunchy. Allow to cool, then roughly chop. To make the crispy sage leaves, heat a good few tbsps of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the sage leaves and fry for 20-30 seconds, or until crispy. Set aside on a tea towel to drain.
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In the same pan, using the same oil, fry the onion over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes, or until very soft. Add the garlic and a pinch of salt and cook for a further minute or so, just to soften. Stir in the risotto rice and mix well to coat all the grains with the oil.
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Increase the heat to high, pour in the wine and cook for a minute or so to reduce. Return the heat back to medium and add a ladleful of the beetroot stock. Stir continuously until the liquid has been absorbed, before adding another ladleful of stock. Repeat this step, stirring continuously between ladlefuls of stock, until all the stock has been added. At this point, the rice should be creamy but still slightly al dente (if your rice is still too hard, you can add a little more stock). Stir through the lemon juice and taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed.
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To serve, divide the risotto between bowls and top with the vegan feta, toasted hazelnuts and crispy sage leaves.
If you liked this delicious wintery dinner recipe, why not try my Cauliflower Cheese & Gnocchi Bake next?
Dear Georgie,
this recipe is awesome – if you are an experienced cook and have made many, many, many risottos before. I would’ve given you 5 stars if the way you wrote your recipe was more ‘sequential’! I get it, but I am certain most inexperienced risotto-cooks will struggle with the way your ‘jump in time’ back and forth … But knowing what I was doing – it was AMAZING.
This was an easy recipe to follow and it tastes amazing. I just made it for my family for the second time and everyone kept saying how good it was. It makes a generous portion so my mom is taking it with her to lunch tomorrow. The color of it is fun, there’s not too many bright red foods out there so it’s different. The flavor with the garlic, onion and sage is really beautiful. I will definitely make this again.
The colour of it is gorgeous isn’t it! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
Looks so good!😊 Can I use pre cooked beet root as well?
The roasted beetroot gives this such a delicious deep flavour. Pre-cooked isn’t quite the same, but it will work 🙂 x
Hi, this looks delicious. Can it be made without wine?
Yes it’s not quite as tasty, but will still work – I would just use extra stock and a splash of white wine vinegar x
Whole family loved this. Even one who says they don’t like risotto!
Incredible! x