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3/14/10

Daring Cooks: Tri Colored Roasted Pepper & Pea Risotto with Cheddar

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

Once again, I was happy not to be intimidated by this challenge since I've made risotto a few times in the past and did not find the task too complicated.

We also had to make broth from scratching. The recipe I came up with is one of those "clean out the refrigerator" recipes.

Ingredients
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
1 small rosemary sprig
1 bay leaf
10 pepper corns
3 tablespoons cilantro
3 dry de arbol chiles
6 cups water

Directions
1. Add all ingredients to a pot. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 45 min. Strain.

Now to the risotto part: if you want a full recipe, let me know. I made two changes to the original recipe: using Cheddar cheese instead of Parmesan and using red onions instead of regular ones.
Note: my SLR camera told me to charge my battery as soon as I started working on this post. Thus, the photographs you see here were shot with my point/shoot camera. Ugh, the difference is huge.

1. In oil cook chopped red onions.


2. Add aborio rice and cook for a few minutes, making sure each grain is coated with oil.

 

3. Add a bit of wine, and cook until it evaporates. In several batches, add the broth, making sure it is cooked off before adding more.
  
  

4. Once the rice is cooked through, add the toppings: I added a cup of defrosted peas and roasted red and yellow peppers. How do you roast peppers? Find out here.
  

5. Next, add cheese, let it melt. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes before serving.
  

I was pretty happy with how this came out!
 

What do you like to add to your risotto?

15 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

Very colourful and appetizing!

Zoey (Vegedible) said...

Ooh nice. I was thinking of using some goat gouda instead of parm, perhaps I will after your inspiration. I made my broth last night, making the risotto for lunch today. Down to the wire, as ever!

Anonymous said...

So pretty and colorful, I love the addition of cheddar too!

Lauren said...

It looks fantastic Olga! I love the colours =D.

Lauren said...

this sounds great! I love the cheddar - way to make a comfort food even more comforting!!

LittleRed said...

That looks so very bright and delicious! Yum:)

Simones Kitchen said...

That looks gorgeous Olga and don't you just love those "clean out the fridge" recipes? Perfect!

Lisa said...

I also did a tri-color pepper- sweet pea risotto (but added sopresatta) but I overcooked the peppers accidentally and they disintigrated a bit, resulting in a not as colorful risotto as I hoped. Yours, on the other hand, is gorgeous and perfect. Looks so yummy. Well done!

Audax said...

Absolutely love that photograph with the polka dots it really sets off the risotto so well and the flavour combination sounds superb well done on this challenge. Perfect cooked rice I notice. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

Jenna said...

I love it! I love risotto any time, and this one is so colorful.

Mom on the Run said...

I love all the colors of your risotto! I always follow a recipe when I make risotto because it is not a dish that comes naturally to me yet.

I love your site and can't wait to see more recipes :)

Joie de vivre said...

Pretty! My favorite risotto is butternut squash.

Leslie said...

I call risotto my "weekend" rice because it takes sooo long to make! Looks delish!

Delicious Dishings said...

This risotto looks delicious! I love all the colors and veggies!

Cindy said...

I was all set to vicariously eat your risotto, until you added the cheddar. Guess I would have preferred parmesan.