Beetroot Risotto with Goats Cheese

Sensational colour, a kick of spice and healthy all at the same time. Some warming chilli flakes are an excellent pairing with the sweet, metallic tang of beetroot and the goats cheese sets it all off a treat. A real mid-winter mood-lifter!

Ingredients, serves 2:

• 2 large beetroot
• 200g arborio or carnaroli risotto rice
• 100ml white wine
• 2 large shallots
• 50g butter
• pinch chilli flakes (Aleppo chilli if you can get them, normal ones will do just fine)
• 100ml natural yoghurt or soured cream

1. To cook the beetroot, remove the upper leaves and lower roots. Wash well and cook in boiling, lightly salted water for 1 hour. Do not peel the beetroot, do this after it is cooked. You know it is cooked when a skewer will pass all the way through easily. Allow it to cool and it should easily peel in your hands. Cut into approx 1-2cm chunks and set aside. Reserve the cooking water – which should be a clean, red colour – to use as your stock.
2. Next, we will just cook a classic risotto recipe, using the beetroot cooking water. Sweat the chopped shallots in a knob of butter and a swig of olive oil, mixed. Cook the onion gently until soft and translucent, around 10 minutes. Do not let it brown or burn.
3. Next, add the risotto rice and thoroughly mix with the onions. Add the pinch of chilli flakes here. Although I love chilli, less is more in this recipe. You just want a gentle bit of heat in the background, which is why Aleppo peppers, with their more gentle, rounded, warming flavour are excellent. Stir through and cook for a minute.
4. Next, turn up the heat to high and add the wine. We want it to cook off and reduce by around two-thirds. There should be no strong smell of alcohol.
5. Next, add a ladleful of the hot beetroot stock. A risotto deserves a bit of effort and attention so stir this constantly until the stock has been absorbed by the rice.
6. Keep adding stock one ladleful at a time and stirring into the rice until it is absorbed. Repeat until the rice is nearly done, it should just have a bit of ‘bite’ in the middle at this stage.
7. Now, add your chopped beetroot and stir through. Cook for a few minutes until the rice is cooked through.
8. You should have a pan of steaming, maroon marvellousness. Take off the heat and season with salt and pepper. Add a generous knob of butter and the yoghurt/sour cream; add more until you get the consistency and the taste that you want. A risotto usually has cheese at this point, but because there will be goats cheese on top, I have left it out, but by all means chuck in a little parmesan or pecorino. Vigorously stir these ingredients in.
9. Plate this up with a flourish! It should roll across the plate, more like porridge than a solid mass. If it is too solid, add some stock, butter and sour cream to loosen.
10. Garnish with goats cheese. I sliced some soft goats cheese on the top, or you could just as easily grate hard goats cheese over as if it was parmesan. A good twist of pepper and you are ready to go. It tastes amazing and I hope you enjoy it.