Wet Garlic and Preserved Lemon Risotto with Slow Roasted Tomatoes

After a lovely roast chicken last weekend , I put the bones covered with water  into the slow cooker on low for 4 hours resulting in a lovely rich chicken stock that screamed risotto.

As a main ingredient I was to use some of the Wet Garlic from our vegebox  this fresh  new season garlic has a mellower flavour than the dried garlic and  can be eaten raw in salads or mixed with goat cheese. If you don’t have wet garlic,  leeks also work well in this recipe

To lighten this bright summery risotto I used a few home-preserved  ingredients , preserved lemons and slow roasted tomatoes. Both of these are summer standbys once made they keep a long time in the fridge perfect additions to salads and meat marinades.If you don’t fancy making your own you, though easy and cheap, you can
buy preserved lemons and sunblush tomatoes are a good ( if expensive
substitute) for slow roasted tomatoes.

Wet Garlic and Preserved Lemon Risotto with Slow Roasted Tomatoes

250g of risotto rice
1 bulb of wet garlic finely chopped
1 whole preserved lemon washed of any salt finely chopped ( recipe here)
1.5 pints of chicken/ vegetable stock
4 tbsp of Slow Roasted Tomatoes including the preserving oil  ( recipe here)
1 tbsp of butter
Few sprigs of thyme
Pepper to season

1. Fry the garlic in the butter
2. Add the risotto rice and cook until coated
3. Slowly add the chicken stock a ladle at a time , cooking until absorbed on a gentle simmer.
4. Once all the rice has absorbed the stock and the rice has a little bite.
5. Stir in the preserved lemon and add the freshly ground pepper.
6. Top with the slow roasted tomatoes , oil and a few sprigs of thyme.

You can add a little parmesan if you wish, I don’t need it.
 

Spiced Preserved Lemons

8 unwaxed lemons
200g of sea salt
75g of spices coriander seeds , cumin seed, star anise dried chillis and a bay leaf with a large quantity of sea salt

You can miss out the spices but they add even more spark to the lemons and make the jar look very pretty

1. Cut whole lemons in half
2. In a clean 1 litre preserving jar , layer lemons with salt and and
   spice mix in a preserving jar ,presssing down hard to squeeze the juice
   to cover lemons
3. After a few days check more juice will have come out and you may be able to fit in more lemons
4. Leave in the fridge for minimum of a 6 weeks

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

1. Heat oven to 140C. Halve the tomatoes and put on baking
   sheets, cut sides up. sprinkle with a little olive oil salt and pepper
   and some herbs de provence , dried thyme or oregano depending on your
   preferences
2.  Cook for 2-3 hrs until semi-dried.
   
3. Leave to cool, then pack into a glass jar covered with olive oil.
   
4. These keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks if you can resist eating them. I am planning on experimenting this summer to see how they keep out of the fridge

About these ads