This recipe for pea and courgette risotto soup is the first from the Quick & Simple Series, new to Lay The Table. I’ve outlined the reasons behind this series in Essentials for Quick & Simple Recipes, but the main thing to bear in mind is that I don’t plan to spend more than 30 minutes in the kitchen after work.
I love risotto, but find all the stirring quite tiring. Risotto soup can just be left to simmer away for 15 to 20 minutes while you get on with other things. Just check on it once in a while! You don’t have to use courgettes and peas, but I happened to have courgettes sitting on the ‘top shelf’ of the fridge, (‘top shelf’ food needs to be used up first, as opposed to more recently bought ingredients), and frozen peas. Two vegetables are all that you need.
Ingredients: (makes 2 portions)
- 1 ½ courgettes
- handful of frozen peas
- 1 large shallot (the elongated ones) or 2 round shallots
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- some sprigs of fresh parsley for garnish
- sea salt & black peppercorns
- 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 150g vialone nano or other risotto rice
- shavings of fresh Parmesan or Grana Padano
What to do next:
Finely chop shallot and garlic, while courgettes should be thinly sliced. Wash parsley and roughly chop for garnishing. Shave the Parmesan or Grana Padano. Boil a kettleful of water.
Add butter and olive oil to saucepan over a medium heat, but don’t let the butter burn. Fry shallot and garlic until lightly browned, then add rice. Stir for a few minutes to coat the grains evenly. Add some hot water, enough so that the rice can simmer away happily. More can be added during the cooking process. If you’ve added too much, it will simmer away, so don’t worry.
Turn the heat down and don’t cover the saucepan completely with the lid. People tend to use stock to make their risottos, but this doesn’t need it in my opinion.
After about 10 minutes, add the courgette and frozen peas, mix in with the rice, season with salt and pepper and simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve in bowls with a little olive oil drizzled on top, with plenty of cheese and season if required. You can grate the cheese, but I really liked finding bigger pieces now and again!
If you’re looking for more recipes, I’ve trawled through the Lay The Table archive and found eight that can be prepared in under 30 minutes, which I’ve put together in 8 Quick & Simple Recipes From The Archive. There’ll be more recipes over the upcoming months.
I hope you enjoy making this, and I’d love to hear about your quick & simple recipes!
See more Quick & Simple Recipes on Lay The Table.
@ Lay The Table
