Leek & Parsnip risotto ft Quorn

I would like to have a beautiful photo to open this post with but bad lighting and my own camera being temporarily out of action (pesky sand grains) lead to a dodgy one off my daughters camera I'm borrowing (which I'm very grateful about or photo's would be non existent right now). 

Anyway! I decided to have a go at incorporating some quorn products into a risotto last night. 

In retrospect I think less would have been more and I would have done this without the quorn bacon and the parsnip. The veggie bacon is lovely and parsnip goes wonderfully in risotto but this was a bit too adventurous and had too many ingredients! 

Also the stock is everything. I tried a cheaper version than I usually use with risotto, it was Asda's own vegetable stock and felt really let down on the flavour. Bisto all the way! At least until I find a good cheaper alternative.

If using the recipe below I would either just do the pea, leek and parsnip or as I mentioned above just the pea, leek and quorn chicken version.

Recipe

Ingredients:

Image sourced from internet

• 3 tbs vegetable oil
• 3 garlic cloves diced
• 1 red onion diced
• 2 handful's of frozen peas
• 2.5 pint's of vegetable stock 
• 1 Large Leek
• 2-3 Parsnips
• 2 handfuls Quorn chicken pieces
• 2 pieces of Quorn veggie bacon 
• 375g Arborio Rice
• Knob of butter/margerine

Method:

• Peel and dice garlic and onion and place into a large oiled pan (2tbs oil) to slowly soften.
• Peel and chop parsnip into chunks and place into separate pan of boiling water to par boil for 10 - 12 minutes.
• After 5 minutes break the 2 slices of veggie bacon into small squarish pieces and add along side the quorn pieces to the large risotto/wok/non stick pan.
• Thinly slice leek and add to the main pan.
• After 10 minutes turn up the heat slightly and add last tbs oil to pan and add in your risotto rice and mix together so coated in the oil.
• After a few minutes add a ladelful of stock and mix in.
• Allow the rice to absorb the stock and then add the next ladelful. Continue like this until you have added a pint of stock. Then add the par boiled parsnip into your risotto pan.
• Continue again to slowly add the rest of your stock, allowing it to be absorbed in each time.
• Keep cooking/adding stock until your rice is soft/al dente.
• Mix in a knob of butter/margerine for an extra creamy affect.

Apologies for the dodgy photo!  

The quorn turned out to be a lovely edition.

My favourite risotto is pea and parsnip. I think I'll be trying out roasted courgette risotto next but back to a good vegetable stock.


What's your favourite risotto recipe?