Fennel and Lemon Risotto is a treat either for lunch or as an accompaniment to dinner.
A Riverford organic vegetable box is a great way to increase the variety of vegetables you eat, stopping you getting into a rut. This week I received 2 bulbs of fennel.
Now here's the quandary, I don't like aniseed or liquorice, but actually like the flavour of fennel and tarragon when it's very mild.
So what were my choices? There is the classic fennel and orange salad, Delia's roasted red peppers with fennel (which are lush hot or cold and my husband's favourite) but I didn't have any peppers; a layered potato and fennel gratin or something different!
Jamie Oliver has a great video about fennel, explaining the nutrients too. I love to see buddy just eating the slices raw and chewing the fronds (bubblegum style).
I decided to get creative and make a fennel and lemon risotto and was very pleased with the results. The flavour was very subtle, creamy and was great with some turkey burgers.
I still have another bulb of fennel left to use.
Ingredients (serves 4 as an accompaniment)
1 onion, finely chopped (check out my tutorial on chopping an onion with minimal tears)
1 bulb of fennel
1 tbsp olive oil
25g unsalted butter
1/2 packet risotto rice
1 Knorr chicken stock pot (you could use vegetable stock)
1 large lemon
25g grated parmesan
25g unsalted butter (to add at the end)
salt and pepper
Method
Scrub the lemon under some hot water to remove any wax or product and leave to dry.
Now to prepare the fennel. I trimmed off the top of the fennel, the stalks were a bit tougher. I then cut the fennel in half, then into quarters and remove the core if necessary. I then chopped the fennel into small piece, slicing down the length, then across.
In a small saucepan, pop in the stockpot and 500 ml boiling water. Dissolve the stockpot and then leave over low heat, just keeping it hot. You always add boiling stock to a risotto.
Take a large saucepan, add the olive oil and 25g of butter, melt over medium heat, then add the chopped onion and fennel and fry gently for about 5 minutes until the onion is going translucent.
Add the rice and stir, frying for another minute, the rice should start to squeak. If you haven't made risotto before Gennaro has a great video teaching you the basics.
Start adding the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring and cooking until the risotto rice is just cooked, top up the stock pan if you need more water. Add the grated zest of the lemon, stir well, then season with salt and pepper.
Remove from the heat and add the parmesan and butter and stir again. Cover and leave for 3 minutes.
Serve and grate over a little more lemon zest.
Let me know if you try this, or have any other great ideas for using fennel.
