Beetroot Risotto
This is a lovely first risotto; it is also the first risotto I made for my son George. He loved the flavour: both the beetroot puree and the homemade stock combine beautifully. If you are hesitant about using beetroot don’t be, it isn’t a strong flavour and it is packed full of nutrition. Beetroots are an excellent source of folic acid and a very good source of fibre, manganese and potassium.
I recommned making the beetroot puree and homemade stock in advance, both the puree and the stock (vegetable or chicken) are really useful to have in the freezer, when you are weaning. They can be added to so many other recipes.
This risotto is tasty enough to make for the whole family, so I have included family size quantities. If you can plan meals where everyone can eat together, it does make life easier. Sadly risotto isn’t suitable for freezing, if you do have leftovers you can make arancini.
n.b. suitable from approx 8 months+
beetroot puree:
3 organic beetroot: peel and cook, you can either boil/ or roast with a little olive oil. Cook until soft
3 beetroot should give you roughly 275g of cooked beetroot (give or take).
You will then need around 500ml of (boiled) water to blend into a lovely smooth puree.
You can freeze this puree for up to 3 months
To make homemade vegetable stock
To make homemade chicken stock
ingredients for baby
serves 2-3 baby portions
small knob of unsalted butter
½ tablespoon olive oil
1/4 onion, finely diced
50g risotto rice
350 ml homemade vegetable/ chicken stock, or no added salt stock, or water
80 ml/g beetroot puree
ingredients for the family
serves 4
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
300g risotto rice
1.25 litres homemade vegetable/ chicken stock, or no added salt stock, or water
500 ml/g beetroot puree
method
Combine the stock and beetroot puree in a pan, warm through over a low heat. You will add this to the risotto and it will incorporate better if warm already. In a separate pot melt the butter and olive oil; add the onion and gently soften for around 8-10 mins until translucent. Next add the rice and coat in the oil, butter and onion. Slowly add the stock/ beetroot mix one ladleful at a time. Once the ladleful of the liquid has been absorbed, add the next ladleful, stirring all the time. Continue until all the stock/ beetroot mix has been used up: this process should take around 20 mins (approx). To finish the risotto add a final knob of butter and cover with a lid, to rest for 5 mins. It’s now ready to eat.
Not suitable for freezing