I love risotto! It’s a little time consuming stirring it constantly but if you have a toddler in the house they will probably be eager to help you stir (stirring is one of the things children can do in the kitchen without messing it up too much!! Lol)

Risottos are easy to make sugar, meat, gluten and dairy free- so if you have children with any dietary requirements- risotto is a great option for the whole family!

Ingredients-
Large onion

2 cloves of garlic

One large courgette

300g Risotto rice

White wine

1.5pints vegetable stock (if you’re going gluten free make sure you get gluten free stock cubes)

Frozen peas

Frozen prawns (skip these and make the dish vegetarian!)

Asparagus tips

Baby leaf Spinach

Lemon

Optional- Greek yoghurt or creme fresh

Optional- Parmesan or similar hard cheese

Dice the courgette, chop the onions and garlic

In a large pan heat a tablespoon of oil (and a knob of butter if you like)

On a medium heat cook the onions for 5mins until soft

Add the courgette and garlic and cook for another 3mins

Add the risotto rice and stir to make sure it all gets coated with oil. Cook for another minute. (Toddler came to help with the stirring at this point!)

Pour around a small glass of white wine and stir until it’s all absorbed by the rice.

Time to add the stock- a ladle full at a time (around a small glass worth) then stir until it’s absorbed before adding another ladle full. Keep stirring constantly as this brings out the natural creaminess of the rice. If you have a keen kitchen helper it’s good to get them stirring with you!

Once you’ve added nearly 1.5pints of stock throw in 4 handfuls of frozen peas and stir in.

Then half a bag of frozen prawns

The asparagus next. Keep stirring and adding stock as needed so it doesn’t dry out.

Finely grate the peel of half a lemon

Add the grated peel and squeeze the juice from half a lemon into the pan.

Add a few handfuls of spinach (bear in mind this reduces down massively as it cooks)

If you’re staying dairy free ignore these next couple of stages! It really is fine as is- but if you like you can add a spoonful of yoghurt or creme fresh.

Also grated Parmesan adds to the flavour but isn’t essential.

Lots of black pepper is great!

Finally a handful of fresh parsley finishes the dish!

The veg darkens in colour if you don’t eat it straight away (I tend to cook dinner during naptime then reheat it later) but it still tastes fine. If you can eat it straight away it does taste a little better.