We were incredibly lucky to find a generous WWOOF host, but Ann is also an outstanding chef. Most lunches were homemade soups and dinners ranged from lamb to lasagna. Where do we begin!?
One night in particular, Ann made her famous homemade risotto. Ahh, risotto. Riiiss-ooo-tto. Doesn’t it just sound lovely rolling off the tongue? She agreed to share the recipe, so Blondie and the Beard photographed every step so that it could be shared with all of you. It’s very filling, be sure to cook this one hungry!
To begin, you’ll need:
2 cups of rissotto (any kind you fancy)
4 cups (roughly) of chicken stock
3 tbs olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
3-4 heads of broccoli
1 package of dried mushrooms (soaked in boiling water first)
1 sprig of parsley
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 lug of white wine (plus 1 glass for drinking yourself, obviously)
Optional:
1 package of fresh mushrooms
1 handful of spinach
To create:
1. Heat your olive oil until hot – toss in your onion and garlic and simmer until onion is transparent
2. Throw in your chopped leek and cook another 1-2 minutes
3. Pour your risotto into the mix and stir around
4. Lug that wine in until well coated! Give it a stir.
5. Next, throw in the mushrooms that have been soaking patiently in boiling water and stir it all around – let the wine simmer until the alcohol burns off. We also threw in some fresh mushrooms at this stage – because those babies are gooooood.
6. Keep stirring everything together and season with salt and pepper.
7. Next, slowly pour in the chicken stock bit by bit.. stirring constantly as you go. Pour a little more as the first bit soaks in and continue this process.
8. The chicken stock will begin to soak into the risotto, keep stirring. We added a handful of chopped spinach at this point
9. Keep stirring and stirring… pour in the remaining chicken stock if you have any left
10. When it looks as if most of the chicken stock is soaked in, taste your risotto and make sure it’s fully cooked and not hard. Top with a spat of butter, chopped parsley and CHEESE.
11. Grab another glass of wine and ENJOY!
Ann is in the process of creating a recipe page on her website featuring WWOOF’ers recipes from around the world. We contributed with our famous quinoa stuffed bell pepper recipe, but check it out for more tasty stuff!
Don’t forget to leave a comment below by clicking the chat bubble and letting Ann know how delicious her risotto was.
Bon Appétit!
—
Blondie and the Beard
4 Comments
Is it Gluten Free?
Risotto rice should be made with arborio rice, an italian rice and gluten free.
Looks really delicious. Ann is an extremely good cook – tho’ she says she isn’t!
Ahh! The famous Reen Risotto! In the version I had in the summer it was delicious garden veg from the tunnel, peas, spinach and some tiny courgettes. You have been lucky enough to sample all of my favorite things about staying at Reen. I have really enjoyed reading your stories and especially the photos. It has made me look forward to my next visit even more. Thank you for your excellent insights into such a magical place!