For anyone who read my last post salted caramel and pretzel cheesecake, you might remember I had promised to post a couple more recipes from the same dinner party. My Greek lemon and herb roast potatoes and my mini Yorkshire puddings with blue cheese and chilli jam to be precise. In case anyone is waiting on the edge of their seats for the recipes, I haven't forgotten them, Its just the pictures are on my boyfriends phone and he is out of the country for 2 weeks.
I feel a bit like I'm making excuses for not doing my homework when I say this. I suppose I could post the recipes anyway... but who wants recipes with no food-porn?? (aka food pictures to normal people).
So bear with me, I will get them posted in a couple of weeks and they will be worth waiting for I promise!! In the meantime I'm home alone which means plenty of meals with friends and plenty of food I make when I just want to please me. When I think comfort food for one I usually go for Italian. There's something about a big steaming bowl of pasta or a pizza for one, curled up in front of the telly that feels so indulgent. Italian food gets a bad rep for being unhealthy and stodgy but actually if you control the portion and add lots of vegetables to bulk out the meal it can be a fairly healthy, hearty meal for one.
One thing I could never make if my boyfriend was at home is risotto. Its just not his thing and he wouldn't enjoy it. Its the perfect meal to make for a treat for one although it takes a bit of patience and you have to watch it, its really easy to make and using my tactic of bulking the portion of rice out with lots of vegetables is a great way of getting some of your 5 a day and cutting some of the carbs. I sometimes order risotto in a restaurant but not often as it is really carb-heavy and restaurants usually finish it with lots of butter, cream and cheese so they can be really stodgy and fattening. Also because of the high fat content in some risottos, you often get a relatively small potion. I don't do small portions and I wanted a big bowl of silky risotto, with loads of flavour and minimal fat. The perfect comfort food dish for one!
My version comes in at around 550 calories which may sound like a lot but actually for a complete meal its not bad, also it makes a MASSIVE portion so most people would probably be able to scale it down (or even serve 2 with it) to suit smaller appetites. It does have cheese in it but only 20g and you really don't need any more than that as hard Italian cheese like parmesan or pecorino have such a strong flavour.
Here's how I did it:
Ingredients:
75g Arborio rice
100 ml white wine
600ml chicken/vegetable stock
1 Medium sized courgette
1 Red pepper
1/2 Onion
20g Pecorino or any had Italian cheese
1 Large clove of garlic
2 Teaspoons olive oil
Handful fresh basil
Directions:
Preheat the oven to around 180 degrees C. Chop the red pepper into 1cm pieces and roast in 1 teaspoon of olive oil for 15 minutes.
While the peppers are roasting, fry the onion, garlic and courgette in a saucepan with 1 teaspoon of olive oil for about 3-4 minutes until the volume is reduced and the veg is translucent.
Add the rice and cook for a further 2 minutes making sure the rice is all fully coated.
Add the wine and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed. Then add the stock a bit at a time, adding more when the liquid has been absorbed and stirring occasionally to stop it sticking to the pan. It should take around 20 minutes until all the stock is absorbed and the rice is cooked but still firm. The texture should be fairly sloppy and the starch from the rice should have made a thick creamy sauce (no need to add cream!!)
Add the roasted peppers at the last minute, stir in the grated pecorino and chopped basil and season to taste.
I saved some of the pecorino and basil to sprinkle over the top to make it look pretty!
This is an old recipe but definitely on my 'to cook' list while I have the house to myself. Last time I made it, it was delicious with a crisp glass of dry white wine. Mmmmmm.
Whats your favourite dish to cook when your on your own? Do you ever do what I sometimes do and skip dinner completely and just have cake?
Or is it just me who does that?
Happy eating!
Labels: main meals, Vegetarian
So bear with me, I will get them posted in a couple of weeks and they will be worth waiting for I promise!! In the meantime I'm home alone which means plenty of meals with friends and plenty of food I make when I just want to please me. When I think comfort food for one I usually go for Italian. There's something about a big steaming bowl of pasta or a pizza for one, curled up in front of the telly that feels so indulgent. Italian food gets a bad rep for being unhealthy and stodgy but actually if you control the portion and add lots of vegetables to bulk out the meal it can be a fairly healthy, hearty meal for one.