Category: Recipes

Risotto with spinach and cherry tomatoes

Sustainability tips:

The main ingredients of this recipe are generally sustainable. You can adjust the ingredients to suit your taste. Below are some additional tips to go more sustainable for those who have the time and availability . Fresh, organic spinach are the most sustainable choice. Regular spinach use a fair amount of pesticides and with the frozen choice comes the plastic bag. The same can be said for the ready made broth that usually comes in a non-recyclable container.

Ingredient
More Sustainable
Less Sustainable

Cheese
Spinach
Vegetable Broth
Onion

Avoid
Organic/Fresh
Home made/buillon
No plastic bags

Parmesan sprinkle
Regular/Frozen
From a box
In plastic bags

Useful things to have ready

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients (3-4 people)

  • Risotto Arborio or Carnaroli (1 fistful/person + 2 more)
  • 2 bunches of fresh spinach or half bag of frozen spinach (see above how to wash fresh spinach)
  • 1 cups of vegetable broth (see above how to prepare vegetable broth)
  • One table spoon of olive oil
  • Half onion finely chopped
  • Half teaspoon of red chili pepper or black pepper (optional)
  • Half shot glass of white wine (optional)
  • 2 spoons of tomato puree
  • 10-15 cherry tomatoes
  • Salt

Procedure

  1. Wash the spinach thoroughly
  2. Chop the spinach
  3. Wash the cherry tomatoes and slice them in half
  4. In a wok heat the olive oil
  5. Add onions and sautee until golden
  6. Add red pepper (optional)
  7. Add rice and sautee for 1 minute on medium heat
  1. Add white wine and let evaporate (optional)
  2. Add spinach, mix and cook one minute
  3. Add enough broth to cover the rice
  4. Add tomato puree
  5. Lower the heat and let it cook adding broth or water as it gets absorbed by the rice
  • When the rice is almost ready add salt and the cherry tomatoes
  • Finish cooking until rice is soft but not mushy
  • Turn off heat and let it rest for a few minutes. The broth should be entirely absorbed.

Vegetable broth

Sustainability tips:

I used to buy the vegetable buillon at the grocery store, but recently I can’t find it anymore, therefore I started to make my own broth. The main ingredients of this recipe are generally sustainable. Below are some additional tips to go more sustainable for those who have the time and availability. Organic tomatoes are the most sustainable choice also considering that we’ll be using with the skin.

Ingredient
More Sustainable
Less Sustainable

Carrot
Tomato
Onion
Celery

Organic/No plastic
Organic
No plastic
Organic/No plastic

Regular/In plastic bag
Regular
In plastic bag
Regular/In plastic bag

Preparation time: About 1 hr. Vegetable broth can be prepared anytime and kept in the freezer in a glass jar

Ingredients (About 3 cups of broth that can then be diluted when used)

  • 1 large tomato washed and cut in half
  • 1 leg of celery washed and peeled
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1 potato washed, peeled, and cut in half
  • 1 carrot washed and peeled

Procedure

  1. Put about 1 gallon of water in a pan
  2. Put all washed, peeled and cut vegetables in the water
  3. Bring water to a boil
  4. Lower heat and let it simmer for at least 45 min
  5. When all vegetables are nicely cooked and break easily turn off heat and let it stay for half hour
  6. Remove vegetables with strainer and let it cool off
  • When cold put in glass jar and freeze

Don’t waste the cooked vegetable. You can use the cooked vegetable to make a delicious potage soup for lunch time. Click here for the mixed vegetable potage soup recipe.

How to wash fresh spinach

Whether they are organic or not spinach are always dirty. While it is tempting to save time by just rinsing the leaves, it is important to make sure that they are well clean before we use them.

Time necessary: About 10 min

  1. Cut off stems
  2. Fill up a large bowl with water
  3. Put leaves in water
  4. Move the leaves in the water rubbing them and pushing them up and down gently
  5. Pull the leaves out of the water, the dirt should visible at the bottom of the bowl
  6. Place in a colander and rinse them under running water
  7. Rub the leaves gently with hands while rinsing

Once the spinach are rinsed they can be chopped or kept in the refrigerator until ready to cook