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Smoked Gouda and Spinach Risotto

22 Jan

I love this dish… to me, this dish is comfort food at its finest and easiest.

You know me, I make risotto from a box, but I never eat it straight as is… I always embellish the risotto from Archer Farms with lots of flavor and ingredients.  I actually started making this risotto a looooooooooong time ago, more or less 10 years.  But I used to make it with a Lipton’s Creamy Garlic and Parmesan Risotto mix.  Unfortunately, that product was discontinued… but now I can continue the legacy buying rice at Target every time I travel.

I first learned the basics of flavors for this recipe from something I had read in Cooking Light magazine…  I saw the recipe but I said to myself I would never stand in front of a stove stirring rice for 20-25 minutes.  I love how this tastes… and no one who has had it has ever asked or noticed that the base is from a box, because the flavors are so restaurant like.

I do have to warn you, this recipe is addictive… and with the amount of cheese, it is a bit fattening.  But for special occasions, to celebrate others or yourself, this recipe is easy, reliable and most importantly, delicious.

 smoked-gouda-risotto-2

SMOKED GOUDA AND SPINACH RISOTTO

1 box of Archer Farms 4-Cheese Risotto mix
1 ¼ cup cut-leaf spinach, defrosted and squeezed, but not too much
8-10 button mushrooms, cleaned well and sliced
½ a round of smoked Gouda cheese
3 oz of cream cheese
1/2 cup Fontina cheese, grated
½ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, sliced (optional, but highly recommended)

 

  1. In a large pot, bring 2 ½ cup of water to a boil… we’re basically preparing the risotto according to packaging directions… when the water boils, dump in the rice packet and the seasonings packet.  It might seem the pot is too large, but the mixture will bulk up with the cheeses and mushrooms, specially.
  2. While that cooks a bit, you have some time to slice mushrooms, slice the sun-dried tomatoes and grate the cheeses.  Even though the spinach I buy is cut-leaf spinach, I usually run my kitchen scissors through it to make sure the pieces of spinach are manageable when eating.
  3. When the rice is partly done, add the spinach to the pot.  Mix well and cover partially so the rice comes again to temperature quickly.  After the rice has come to temperature, add the cheeses one by one… I usually start with the cream cheese, then the Gouda, then the Fontina and then the Pecorino.  Mix well to help the cheeses melt into the rice/spinach mixture.
  4. When the cheeses have melted well, but the sauce is still runny, add the mushroom slices and the sun-dried tomatoes, if using.  Mix everything well and let the mushrooms cook a bit.  
  5. When you feel the rice is done, cover the pot and let it stand there for about 10-15 minutes. 

 

While you’re waiting, you can make a side salad or some baked plantains…  the sauce will thicken a bit after waiting a little while and it will be at a nicer temperature where you can really enjoy the cheese and spinach flavors.  If it’s too hot, you won’t taste anything…

This recipe reheats very well.  All I do for the sauce to return to its creamy consistency is to heat it any leftovers up with a bit of cream, half and half or even milk.  I reheat it on the stove top and in a few minutes it’s creamy as it was the night before.

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Pasta Romesco

29 Dec

 The other day I was overzealous making a party dip made from red bell peppers, Muhamara, and I ended up with so much that I used one part for the party I was making it originally and another part I used it to make this pasta dish.

I decided to call it Pasta Romesco instead of Pasta Muhamara, in honor of the dip, because I noticed the ingredients in the dip were almost the same as a romesco sauce I had learned a few years back from a recipe book for IBS patients.  Red bell peppers, bread, walnuts, balsamic vinegar, etc.  I have seen other romesco sauces that use tomatoes as a base, but the one I learned first used red bell peppers, so we’re sticking to that version.

This pasta is evidence this dip is very versatile as it is delicious.

 romesco-pasta

PASTA ROMESCO

½ packet of whole-wheat pasta
¾ cup of the Muhamara dip
¼ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

 

  1. Boil the pasta according to the package directions.  Remember to salt the water well.
  2. When the pasta is done, drain the pasta saving about 1 cup of the pasta water.
  3. Return the pasta to the pot where you boiled it and add the Muhamara dip.  If you feel the sauce is too thick, add some of the pasta water to thin it out.  Add the grated cheese and mix well to combine.
  4. Add more grated cheese on top to serve.

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Stewed Chayotes

23 Dec

When the weather turns a little bit chillier – to us in Puerto Rico that means when the weather goes from the 90’s to the 78’s… sometimes what your body craves is something stewy, something warm to warm up your body and soul.

I have mentioned to you before about my Stewed Potatoes… well, I make it also with Chayotes.  Chayotes are a vegetable that eats like a potato.  You make it very similar, but the taste is more watery.  I already showed you how to make Stuffed Chayotes.

Well, this time around we’ll make it for you in a stewed version.  My aunt was feeling down after surviving stomach flu.  She did not have appetite at all.  So I offered to make her rice and something stewed, something with lots of sauce to wet the rice and give her some sustenance.   It’s very easy to make… even when you’re sick you can make a small pot of this…

 chayotes-guisados

STEWED CHAYOTES

1 medium chayote, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs sofrito
½ of a vegetable bouillon cube
1 12 oz jar of stewed tomatoes
1 tbs tomato paste
1 laurel/bay leaf
 8-10 olives with pimentos
1 roasted red bell pepper, sliced
1 tbs capers
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tbs apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
½ cup to ¾ cup of water
  1. In a medium sauce pan, add the olive oil and heat over medium heat.  Add the sofrito and vegetable bouillon cube.  Smash the cube a bit so it dissolves well.  Add the onions and sauté until soften.  
  2. Add the chayote pieces and stir to combine.   Add the stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, water, salt and pepper.  Stir well to combine.  Add the bay leaf, the olives, red bell pepper and capers.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 25-30 minutes. 
  3. Make sure the chayotes are fork-tender.  When they are, I usually turn it off and let it finish cooking with the residual heat from the stove.

Serve over brown whole-grain rice.

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Broccoli Stalks

22 Nov

When you cook broccoli… what do you do with the stems???

I used to be the one who would cut the florets off and I would get rid of the stalk.  But when I started cooking weekly at the Yoga center, the first time I attempted to throw away the stalk, I got a lesson on how to utilize all the resources available in the kitchen, and that includes the broccoli stalks.

broccoli-stalks

But you just can’t go and cook them the same way as the florets… the florets are delicate and with just steaming they’re perfectly cooked, as I mentioned to you previously here.  But the stalks are tougher and need to be treated differently.

First, cut off the end of the stalk.  You’ll see there is a green edge and a more whitish center.  We need to peel off the greenish outer part.  It’s stringy and not palatable at all.  What I do is to pierce with a knife just inside the green part and pull off the green part.  Just like with an asparagus, the green part will peel away where it’s supposed to cut off if you make the cut as deep as needed.  After you’ve peeled the whole stalk, just cut in into small pieces.

 

broccoli-stalk-2        broccoli-stalk-3

Now there are several things you can try out… one option is to boil the stalks together with some potatoes.  After they’re cooked, you can smash them together with the potatoes and you’ll be adding lots of added nutrition to the potatoes.  Because I use little water to partly boil/partly steam the potatoes/stalks, I usually use part of the water left over to mash the potatoes/stalks.  The water has nutrition of the veggies you’re cooking.

boiling-broccoli-w-potatoes

If you’re stir-frying, you can add the stalks at the beginning of the stir-fry, with other harder to cook veggies, like carrots.  By the time the stir fry is done, the stalks will be fully cooked.

The next time you buy broccoli, plan to use the stalks as well as the florets.  You’ll be amazed at how versatile and delicious they are.  It’s another way to stretch your dollar in these tough economic times.

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Pumpkin Risotto

21 Nov

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year.  It’s special to me because it marks the official start of the Holiday and Xmas season and because I was actually born on a Thanksgiving Day a few years ago. 

To me the rituals of Thanksgiving are most precious – the sharing with family, the cooking and wanting to please your loved ones and the action of giving thanks for all that we have today.  To give thanks without asking anything in return is one of the principles of YOGA and maybe, my connection to Thanksgiving and how much I enjoy this holiday are signs of me possibly practicing yoga before this life.

I always give thanks to the Supreme Being for everything I do have – my life, my family, my health, my ability to see, hear, speak, walk, communicate, my roof, my family, those who love me and those who I love.  But I also give thanks for all those things I do not have…  those things we might think we need in our lives, and the very fact we do not have them might very well be a blessing.  I always thank God for keeping those wishes away from me… because I must learn to appreciate that life is perfect just as it is and that we do not need anything else but the moment we are living.  The present is the only thing we need to continue evolving and growing as spiritual beings in this physical existence.

Ever since I became vegetarian, Thanksgiving has been a challenge in the sense that I was truly attached to the flavors and smells of the traditional omnivore menu.  But in recent years I’ve taken it upon myself to search and create recipes that are in tune with the season, but completely vegetarian and satisfying at the same time.  And when I say in tune with the season, I mean the seasons in the US, because in Puerto Rico, it’s hot and humid on Thanksgiving, just like any other summer day.

This year I decided to try a Pumpkin Risotto.  Something easy, yet delicious that I could make at my grandma’s house.  This year Thanksgiving will be only her, my mom and I, and I don’t want to carry stuff from my home to hers.   I did a test run of  this recipe first and here are the results…  Something you can make any time of the year, but resonates really well in Fall and Winter.  Here’s how I did it…

 pumpkin-risotto

 

PUMPKIN RISOTTO

1 box of Archer Farms’ 4 cheese risotto mix
1 cup pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
½ tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 ounces Fontina cheese, cubed small
1 ounce Blue cheese, I use Danish blue, grated or in crumbles
¼ cup Pecorino Romano, grated
¼ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

 

  1. First, we need to roast the pumpkin.  Place the cleaned pumpkin on a baking sheet, drizzle the olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper and roast in a 350 F oven for about 20-30 minutes.  I do this in my toaster oven.
  2. When the pumpkin is about to be done, start preparing the risotto mixture according to the directions on the package.   I place 2 ½ cups of water to boil.  When the water starts to boil, mix contents of rice and season packets.  Mix together well and leave uncovered. 
  3. After the pumpkin is done, place in the pumpkin seeds another baking sheet and roast dry for about 10-12 minutes.  Watch them closely so they do not burn.  They’ll change color from green to brownish.
  4. When the rice is halfway done, add the pumpkin pieces, the Fontina cheese and the Blue cheese.  Mix well so the cheese pieces melt well.  If the pumpkin stays in big pieces, kind of crush them against the side of the saucepan.  The idea is for the pumpkin pieces to mix well with the rice sauce and make it kind of orangey.
  5. When the rice is done, about 17-20 minutes, turn off the stove, add the Pecorino Romano cheese and cover.  The sauce will thicken upon standing.  Leave it covered for about 15-20 minutes so the sauce thickens and the temperature lowers so you won’t burn the roof of your mouth and can taste the cheeses and pumpkin.  Do not skip the waiting step, no matter how hungry you might be… I speak from experience, and burning the roof of your mouth is not fun.
  6. When serving, sprinkle some roasted pumpkin seeds on top for a nice look and great crunchy bite.

 

I enjoyed this risotto with my sweet plantains and a side salad.

It’s super easy to make.  It’s great if you’re only cooking for a small group, but if you want to feed more than 2-3 with this, just double the recipe – no problem.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  I hope my mom and grandma like it too.

 

Thanks to you for always touching base with me here at KarmaFree Cooking.  I definitely count you as part of my blessings.

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