Roasted Beetroot Risotto with Goat's Cheese & Lemon Thyme Dressing

I'd been wanting to make risotto for a while now, so when I received some beautiful beetroots in my Oddbox this week, I knew this was a recipe I just had to try! Beetroot is such a fantastic vegetable as you can get super creative with it - it's delicious on its own in salads, or you can conjure up some soup, humus or this!

The sweet aromatic flavour of thyme works wonderfully with the earthy roasted beetroot, complimented by a hint lemon and is rounded off with the mild tanginess of goat's cheese.

I found this recipe on Delicious Magazine's website and it was super easy to follow, and produced a delectably appetising result!

NOTE: The texture of mine ended up being a little bit soggier than I would have liked it to be, and I only ended up using about 1/3-3/4 of the stock. So if you do try this out, don't be alarmed if you end up with quite a bit left over as I believe it would vary with the type of risotto you use.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4):

• Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

• 100ml extra virgin olive oil

• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme leaves

• 3 (approx 500g) beetroot

• 1.5L (6 cups) chicken stock

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 300g arborio risotto rice

• 1/2 cup (125ml) red wine

• 60g unsalted butter

• 120g soft goat's cheese, crumbled

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with foil.

2. Whisk lemon zest and juice, 2 tablespoons oil and 1 tablespoon thyme, season with a little salt and set aside.

3. Wrap the beetroot in foil and roast for 45-60 minutes or until just tender. Cool, then peel and chop. Place beetroot on tray, then drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and roast for a further 15 minutes or until starting to caramelise.

4. Whiz half the beetroot with 400ml stock until a smooth puree. Pass through a sieve into a saucepan with remaining stock. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and keep warm.

5. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a pan over medium-low heat, then add onion, garlic and remaining 1 tablespoon thyme and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat the grains. Add wine and simmer until evaporated.

6. Add beetroot stock, a ladleful at a time, allowing each to be absorbed before adding the next. Continue, stirring constantly, for 20 minutes or until the rice is al dente (you may not need all the stock). Remove from heat and stir in butter and remaining roasted beetroot.

7. Serve risotto scattered with goat's cheese and drizzled with thyme dressing.

NUTRITIONAL INFO - per serving:

720 kcal

72.9g carbs

39.4g fat (15g saturated)

22.9g protein