PINK BEETROOT RISOTTO

La vie en rose… Honestly, I am sure that by now you can tell I love PINK! I truly do believe that life is better in pink; when there is an opportunity to add pink, I never pass it up! This has inspired me to create this pink beetroot risotto! I love making risotto, and when the idea came to me that I could mix beets onto my risotto, I had to do it. There was some trial and error in making the pink risotto, after the first few times, I was able to get the right combination of beetroot to risotto. I was honestly very shocked at how good it tastes!

EASY PINK BEETROOT RISOTTO

Risotto is easy to do… if I can do it, anyone can! I learned how to make risotto a few years back; it’s one recipe I like to experiment with a lot because it is a versatile dish. The pink beetroot risotto is an easy twist to your regular risotto recipe!

• Start with the beets, they are the most tedious step because they need to be peeled, which isn’t always fun. From there, you can either bake or boil them. I prefer to bake them; I can put them in the oven and forget about them for about 35 minutes.
• While the beets are cooking; prep the other ingredients. Finely chop the onion and garlic, while bringing the vegetable stock to a boil.
• Once the beets are done cooking, sauté the onions with a little oil. Once the onions are translucent, add the garlic and uncooked rice; sauté for a few more minutes.
• Next, add the white wine (optional – and my favorite part!) to prevent it from sticking. Once the wine has simmered off, add the vegetable stock. You want to make sure that there is always liquid on the rice and to keep stirring so it doesn’t stick and burn.
• While the rice is cooking you want to add the beets. After some experimenting, I figured that quartering the beets was the best way to cook them and control the color intensity in the dish. They are easy to find and extract when quartered than when they are diced or cubed.
• After you have taken out the beets, finely chop them into julienne style.
• Once the rice has cooked, stop adding vegetable stock to allow the dish to thicken.
• Plate the pink beetroot risotto with the chopped beets, goat cheese, and walnuts.

VEGAN SUBSTITUTIONS – PINK BEETROOT RISOTTO

It is really easy to make this recipe vegan. Make sure that you make your own vegetable stock, as the store-bought ones aren’t vegan. If you need more information, see my Plantain Tacos posts as I reference a good recipe for making your own vegetable stock. Also, you will need to replace the goat cheese with vegan cheese.

PINK BEETROOT RISOTTO RECIPE

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Pink Beetroot Risotto

Creamy, easy to do pink beetroot risotto that will have your guest asking for more. 

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword Beetroot Risotto, Pink Beetroot Risotto, Pink Risotto

Prep Time 35 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 2 servings

Author Daniela

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion (finely chopped)
• 1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
• 2-3 cups hot vegetable stock
• 1/2 cup white wine (optional)
• 1 cup risotto
• 2 whole beets
• goat cheese (as desired)
• walnuts (as desired)

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees, peel and cut the beets in quarters and bake for 35 minutes.

2. While the beets are cooking; prep the other ingredients. Finely chop the onion and garlic, while bringing the vegetable stock to a boil.
   

3. Once the beets are done cooking, sauté the onions with a little oil. Once the onions are translucent, add the garlic and uncooked rice; sauté a few minutes more.
   

4. Next, add the white wine to prevent it from sticking. Once the wine has simmered off, add the vegetable stock. You want to make sure that there is always liquid on the rice and to keep stirring so it doesn't stick and burn.
   

5. While the rice is cooking, add the beets. 
   

6. After you have taken out the beets, finely chop them into julienne style.
   

7. A few minutes before the timer goes off make sure you stop adding liquid to the rice to allow the dish to thicken. 

8. Plate the pink beetroot risotto with the chopped beets, goat cheese, and walnuts.

HOW LONG CAN I STORE MY RISOTTO FOR?

If you are like me and like to double up on your cooking so you can have some for leftovers, this is a great recipe do that that with. You can store this pink beetroot risotto in your fridge and consume within three days of cooking. Unfortunately, this isn’t an ideal food to freeze, cooked rice can become really hard when frozen and the texture won’t be the same when you reheat it.