This is a great versatile recipe you can make with odds and ends you have lying around. Don’t fret if you’re missing the odd ingredient.
Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 carrots, cut into 1cm dice
1 potato, cut into 2cm dice
1 parsnip, cut into 1 cm dice
200g of tinned chopped tomatoes (optional)
2 sticks of celery, cut into 1cm dice
100g risotto rice or rissoni or tiny pasta shapes
Seasonal vegetables of your choice (1 small squash, finely grated, 3 large leaves of cavolo nero shredded, a small chunk of swede grated or finely chopped or ANY vegetable in your fridge)
1.5litres vegetable stock
100g cooked and drained borlotti or broad beans
Grated parmesan and a few basil leaves, to serve
Directions
1. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and add the onion and garlic. Soften over a medium heat for 5 minutes, without allowing them to colour, then add the carrots and soften. Repeat with the celery.
2. Add the rest of the seasonal vegetables in order of cooking time and allow to soften slightly – they don’t need to cook through at this point. Stir in the potato.
3. Add the stock, the borlotti bean and rice. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until the potato and rice are cooked. Season to taste.
4. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, a grating of parmesan and some torn basil leaves. (If you make this ahead of time, you’ll find the rice swells to absorb much of the liquid, so it’s best to make it without the rice, then add it when you reheat it. Alternatively, you can loosen it with more stock.)