a valentine's day recipe: beet risotto

This recipe is very timely...considering the beets make it bright pink, and it's from Dennis Cotter's For the Love of Food. Mmm... It also made me super happy each time I added a ladle-ful of the pink beet-veggie stock and watched it mix in. Gorgeous color. I used a mix of golden and pink beets, which is just what was in the drawer. The gold color gets lost in the pink. The risotto needs something salty/acidic at the end, so top with lemon zest and cheese.

Happy Valentine's Day!

ingredients:
1 lb beetroots, washed (2 large)
2 T olive oil
6 cups vegetable stock
4-6 small shallots, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, sliced
300 g Arborio rice
1/2 cup red wine
1 T ginger, finely grated
2 T butter

garnish: goat cheese or parmesan cheese, lemon zest

1. Wash the beets and put in a saucepan, bring to boil and simmer 20-40 minutes, depending on size. Mine were big and took just over 40 minutes. Check to see if they're tender by piercing with a knife, but don't do this often or the color will bleed out. Drain and rinse with cold water. Under cold water, slip the skins off. They rub off easily.

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Take half of the beets and cut into rough chunks, put in food processor. Cut the other half into 1/2-inch dice. Toss with olive oil and salt and roast 30 minutes, stirring once. This will caramelize them.

3. In the food processor, puree the other half of the beets with some of stock (1 c) until smooth. Add this to a pot with the rest of the stock on the stove, keep at a low simmer (keep hot).

4. While the other beets are roasting, get the risotto going. Heat 2 T butter or oil in a heavy pan, sauté the shallots and garlic for 5 minutes. Lower the heat and add rice. Stirring, toast the rice 7-8 minutes. This makes the rice absorb the liquid more slowly (thanks Jessica for the fact-checking:)).
Add the red wine and simmer until absorbed, stirring. Add the beet broth a ladle or two at a time, stiring after each addition. Do this until the rice is just tender, about 20 minutes. Add the ginger with one of the last two additions and stir in.

5. Add the roasted beets from the oven and some extra butter. Season with salt and pepper.  Garnish with goat cheese or parmesan cheese, and a sprinkle of lemon zest.

In his recipe, Cotter tops the risotto with broad beans and a fennel-lemon oil. I couldn't really be bothered to make it extra fancy...but it does look beautiful with the green-on-pink.