Baked risotto - the easiest meal you'll make!

I've never made a baked risotto before but I went to a pampered chef night at my friend's house on Friday and they made one there. It took minutes to put together and then the oven did the rest. 

I've been in the veg garden all day and came in absolutely shattered and desperate for a bath so I literally chopped a few things up and chucked it all in an oven dish and stuck it in the oven while I had my bath. It was ready when I got out and was the perfect comfort food, which I troughed while I caught up on Call The Midwife! 

Ingredients

1 mug of risotto rice. I used arborio. 

1 pack of dried porcini mushrooms

A couple of inches of chorizo, sliced 

1 leek, sliced ( I just had small leeks, from the garden, so used 3)

A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

A couple of knobs of butter

A good grating of hard cheese. I used grana padano. Any cheese, even cheddar, would be nice. 

Method

Cover the mushrooms in boiling water and let them hydrate. 

Put the leek, rice, tomatoes and chorizo in an oven dish. 

When the mushrooms are ready, add them to the dish. 

Put the mushroom liquor into the mug that you measured the rice in. You'll need  2.5 mugs full so if you haven't got enough, top up with hot water. 

Give it a stir and put the butter on the top. I used some of the wild garlic butter that i made last week. 

Put it in the oven at gas mark 5 for about 45 minutes. Do check it after 30 mins though. If it needs more water, feel free to add. 

Grate cheese over and stir it in. Grate some more over the top. Pop it back in the oven for a couple of mins. 

Serve with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar over it. 

Love leftovers...eat curry! Lamb Rogan Josh. Versatile and family friendly!

Well, this is the second time I've written this because I managed to delete the last one, by accident. Grrrr. Technologically challenged, clearly :-(

So, I've been delving in my freezer to get me through my £50 month! To my delight, I had a small joint of lamb. I roasted it last week and we had it with Yorkies (eggs from my hens) and roasted veg. Anyway, to make the most of my leftovers we had a luscious rogan josh made with storecupboard ingredients and remnants of bits and bobs in my fridge. 

You really can just use what you have to hand with this as long as you have some spices and tinned toms!  I've made this so many times and I pretty much never have the same ingredients.  It's a brilliant mid-week supper. 

What I used last week....

1 tbsp groundnut or veg oil

1 onion, chopped

Half a red chilli, chopped (you can use dried chilli flakes)

1 clove of garlic, crushed

A handful of mushrooms, quartered (these are easily omitted)

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp mild curry powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp salt

1 aubergine, chopped into inch size cubes

1 tin tomatoes

Lamb stock (vary this if using a different meat). I use the tomato tin to make this. 

Any leftover gravy 

Leftover lamb, chopped

I used some cream, but I prefer natural yoghurt or you could use coconut milk. Use whatever you have

Fresh herbs, chopped. I used a mix of coriander, mint and parsley, whizzed up. 

(All spices are heaped teaspoons)

Method

Heat up a large frying pan or wok. Add the oil. 

Fry the onion, chilli, mushrooms and salt until softened. 

Add the spices and mix. 

Add the aubergine and fry for a few minutes until covered in the spices and a bit softer. Add the tomatoes, stock and any gravy. Bring to the boil then lower the heat and leave it to simmer for about 15 mins. 

Mix in the fresh herbs and add the cream (or whatever you're using) and take off the heat. 

Serve with basmati rice. I use 1 mug of rice and 2 mugs of boiling, salted water. I pop a star anise or a cinnamon stick in with it. Bring to the boil, stir, turn the hob down to low, cover and leave until the rice has soaked up all the water and has the right amount of bite. 

It is so tasty that you'll want to make it all the time with any leftovers and I also do a variation of it with no meat. I just do everything as above but when the aubergine softens I add the rice directly to the pan with all the liquid and and have it as a one pot rice dish instead. Cheap, easy and gorgeous and the whole family loves it. Very child friendly!