Saturday 13 June 2015

SUMMER HERB, FETA & COURGETTE RISOTTO

I bought a little herb garden today as I am constantly buying herbs for recipes and then having to throw half of them away. I hate the waste so hopefully by growing my own I can avoid this….but we will see…I don't have much success in keeping herbs (or flowers) alive! 

This recipe requires lots of herbs so it is perfect for summer - I used the entire pack so there was no leftovers to bin! It was very easy to make and took about 40 minutes in total.

Ingredients for 4 people:

2 tbsp olive oil
500g courgettes, halved length ways and thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
350g arborio risotto rice
1.2 litres of vegetable stock
25g pack of fresh basil, chopped
20g pack fresh mint, chopped
150g feta cheese, chopped



Heat the oil in a large pan and add the sliced courgettes. Fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes until golden on both sides.




Add the garlic and season, then cook for a further minute.




Stir in the rice and cook for 1 minute until coated in oil.



Add the stock to the rice a ladleful at a time, stirring until each amount is absorbed.



Continue until all the stock is added and the rice is creamy and just tender - it should have a little bite to it. This will take about 20 minutes.




Take it off the heat and then stir in the feta and the herbs. I had chopped them using scissors in a mug.







Leave to rest for a couple of minutes.



Season further if necessary and then serve.



This risotto is perfect for this time of year - it tastes so fresh and summery with all the herbs and the feta reminds me of being on holiday in Greece. My husband Pascal always complains about not liking feta but he thought this risotto was so delicious and light - unfortunately my daughter Arabella wasn't such a fan as she doesn't like mint (I will remind her of this next time she wants one of my polo mints)! Still she ate it (with some extra Parmesan) and didn't moan too much. Hopefully next time I cook this it will be with my home  grown herbs!!



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