Weekend Cooking: Strawberry Risotto

In an Italian themed cookalong in July, I made Strawberry Risotto. I was looking for a nice Italian dish that wasn't that standard and I stumbled across this one. I wanted to give cooking with fruit a try, because getting in enough fruit is still one of my weak spots and that is why I decided to go ahead and make this summery risotto. The combination might sound strange, but I actually love it a lot. I hope you will give it a try as well :) I adapted the recipe from Italiaans koken met Antoinette.

Strawberry Risotto (serves 4)
- 1 or 2 spring oinions
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 350 gr risotto rice (short grain)
- 300 gr strawberries
- 1.5L vegetable broth
- some butter
- Parmasan cheese, grated
- fresh basil
- salt and pepper

Cut half of the strawberries into little pieces and puree the other half in a food processor. Cut the spring onion and some fresh basil. Bake the onion shortly in some olive oil. Add the rice and stir fry for a minute or so until the rice gets a white color. Add about 200ml from the broth and put the heat to medium. Let the rice absorb the fluids. Keep stirring and add about 200ml fluids at one time. Add the strawberries and basil after about 10 minutes when the rice is turing soft. Also add some pepper and salt (but not too much, the cheese will add salt too). Now only use 100ml fluids at a time and let the rice simmer while stirring for about 8 more minutes until the rice is creamy and soft. Keep tasting, you will know when it is right. Turn off the heat and stir the butter and cheese through the dish. Taste some more and adjust flavors if needed. Let the risotto rest for about 1 minute and serve in deep plates.

Vegan option: You can replace the butter for margarine and use natural yeast instead of cheese. You can also leave out the latter. You will get a more sweet dish, but I tasted it before adding the cheese and I liked that version as well.

This post is part of Weekend Cooking. This is a foodie meme where all kinds of food related posts are shared, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

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