Spring Vegetable Spelt Risotto

Serves 4

Ahhh spring, where art thou?? In London, we are still very much in our winter coats with the heating on, but I shall plough on with my Spring recipes regardless! I just love this dinner — it has all of the components for a nutritionally dense meal. The powerhouse that is Spelt provides complex carbohydrates, protein, tons of fibre and many health-boosting micronutrients. It provides almost a third of my Vitamin C & Vitamin A daily requirements, from using six antioxidant-rich spring vegetables. Instead of using vegetable stock, I experimented with using bone broth instead, and not only did it add wonderfully to the flavour, it upped the “goodness” value no end! Bone Broth is rich in minerals that support the immune system and contains gut healing compounds that can reduce intestinal inflammation.

I came up with this recipe because I had some roast chicken left over (see my previous post for the recipe — it is just the gift that keeps on giving!) but it wasn’t enough to feed 4 people on it’s own, so I wanted to create something wholesome and nourishing. Very easy to make this recipe vegan by using vegetable stock instead and leaving out the chicken and parmesan! It is freezer friendly (great for batch cooking!), and is bursting with flavour.

CHEATS TIP — You can buy pre-cooked sachets of Spelt for a super quick last minute meal.

INGREDIENTS

· 1 tbsp Rapeseed Oil (I used the newly discovered Cotswold Gold Rosemary Rapeseed oil for an extra flavour kick)
· 1 Large Leek
· 1 Onion
· 3 Garlic Cloves
· 600ml Bone Broth or Vegetable Stock
· 8 spears Asparagus
· 2 Medium Courgette
· 100g Frozen Peas
· 100g Broad Beans
· 200g Organic Pearled Spelt
· 125ml White Wine
· Himalayan Salt & Fresh Pepper to taste.
· A few sprigs of Rosemary
· Handful of Fresh Sage
· 1 tbsp dried herbs of choice — oregano and thyme works very well here too.

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS:

· Roast chicken leftovers with 30g grated parmesan.
· If vegan, sprinkle some Nutritional Yeast for a cheesy taste.
· If doing “Meat free Monday”, use some crumbled goats cheese or serve with dill grilled salmon.

METHOD

· Weigh the spelt and rinse thoroughly.
· Finely chop the onion and leek.
· Peel and mince the garlic.
· Finely chop the sage.
· Chop the courgettes and asparagus.
· Heat the oil in a wide based pan, add the onion and leek, and cook over a medium heat until soft but not brown.
· Add the garlic and stir occasionally for a minute.
· Add the chopped sage and spelt until it is frying and starting to colour lightly.
· Add the wine and continue to cook for 1 more minute.
· Add the dried herbs and rosemary sprigs, and pour in ½ of the bone broth or vegetable stock and cook for 10 minutes.
· If making a chicken risotto, add it now (I used a leg, a thigh and half a breast).
· Continue adding broth/stock one ladle at a time until the spelt is tender and most of the liquid has absorbed.
· While the spelt is cooking, in a frying pan, sauté the courgettes and asparagus for 5 minutes until starting to brown. Set aside.
· Boil the frozen peas and broad beans for 3 minutes, drain and set aside. (I do this because cooking them in the risotto tends to make them mushier and I like my vegetables to still have a little texture to them, but to save washing up, you could just add them to the risotto while it’s cooking.)
· Once the spelt is soft and the water has been absorbed, stir in all of the vegetables (and the grated parmesan if using), and season with salt and pepper.
· Serve garnished as above — don’t forget to take out the rosemary sprigs!

Nutritional Information

Macros without chicken

Calories — 331
Carbohydrates — 51g
Fat — 4g
Protein — 20g
Fibre — 7g
Vitamin A — 27%
Vitamin C — 28%
Iron — 12%

Macros with chicken

Calories — 430
Carbohydrates — 51g
Fat — 9g
Protein — 34g
Fibre — 7g
Vitamin A — 28%
Vitamin C — 28%
Iron — 13%