MEAT FREE WEEK - Cheats Risotto with Beetroot Crisps

Cheats Risotto with Beetroot Crisps

Feeds – 4-6

Preparation Time – 5-10 minutes

Cooking Time – 35-40 minutes

Ingredients-

Vegetables for roasting-

6 Large ripe tomatoes on the vine (the deeper the red they are the more flavoursome)- Leave whole

2 White onions – Peeled and roughly chopped in half then quarters

2 Red pepper – Cores removed and roughly chopped into strips

3 spring onions – Ends removed, left whole

6 Large sprigs of thyme

Generous pinch of dried oregano

Sprinkle of sea salt

Good sprinkle of both white & black pepper

2 Generous glugs of rapeseed oil

450g of Wholegrain Basmati Rice (Allow 75g per person) – Cook as per instructions, 1.5 the amount of water to rice.

To serve-

2 Fresh beetroots- Outer layer peeled then continue to peel slices of beetroot

Tiny glug of rapeseed oil

1 sheet of parchment paper

Handful of fresh parsley – Roughly chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

Instructions –

Start by adding all vegetable to a large roasting dish, drizzle with rapeseed oil, add herbs and seasoning and cook on 200 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes. Have a check and shake the tray after 25 minutes so you don’t overcook one side of the vegetables, turning over any that need to be. You want the vegetable to be slightly browning but not overcooked.

Once the vegetable have gone into the oven get the rice on, boil the water in the kettle to speed up the process – remember wholegrain basmati will be slightly more crunchy than a regular basmati- so no need to overcook.

For the beetroot chips, lightly coat both sides of each crisp with rapeseed oil (a tiny bit on your hands will do the job-you don’t want to make them soggy) then lay out on parchment paper so they’re not overlapping and roast in the oven on the lowest shelf for 5-10 minutes, check after 5 minutes as all ovens vary and they can go from being perfect to burnt pretty easily. Once the edges start to curl they’re done, remove from the oven and sprinkle with a little sea salt.

Once everything’s cooked and ready, just combine the roasted vegetables with the rice, adjust seasoning if you need to then serve up, sprinkling over the beetroot chips and parsley plus a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and black pepper.

Super simple but super delicious.