risotto with peas & greens.

This is another recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good. It is simple & dairy-free. I have done, dairy-free risotto before, but I love the lemon juice as the wine substitute. This is perfect for a spring dinner.

risotto wtith peas & greens.
serves 4
Recipe from It's All Good

2 pints vegetable stock
1 lemon
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ white onion, finely diced
1 leek, white and light green parts only, thoroughly washed and finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
Leaves from 6 sprigs of thyme
Coarse sea salt
1 cup Arborio rice
3¼oz baby spinach or any other baby greens
6oz fresh garden peas (or you can substitute small frozen peas)
1½oz roughly chopped fresh basil
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Warm the vegetable stock in a small saucepan and set it on the back burner over low heat.
2. Using a Microplane grater or a zester, zest the lemon and set the zest aside. Cut the lemon in half, juice it, and set the juice aside.
3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan set over high heat. Add the onion and leek, turn the heat down to medium, and cook until the vegetables just begin to soften, about five minutes. Add the garlic and thyme along with a big pinch of salt and cook until all the aromatics are, well, aromatic, another two minutes.
4. Turn the heat to high, add the rice and the reserved lemon juice, and stir to combine all the ingredients. Cook until the lemon juice is just evaporated and then stir in a ladleful of the warm stock. Continue to stir the risotto until the stock is absorbed, then stir in another ladleful of stock. Continue in this manner until the rice is cooked through and you’ve used all your stock, about 20 minutes.
5. At this point your arm should feel as if it’s going to fall off and the rice should be luxuriously creamy and rich. Stir in the reserved lemon zest, the greens and peas (these will cook with the risotto’s residual heat), the basil, and a few healthy grinds of pepper. Serve immediately.

happy eatings & cheers!