Beetroot Risotto

Veggie challenge or no veggie challenge: when it comes to midweek cooking, vegetables rule the roost in our kitchen. With recipes like this richly flavoured star turn for the humble beetroot, a source of recurring culinary nightmares during my childhood but now a regular dinner time guest, who needs meat anyway?

Ingredients (for 2 as a generous main course)

• 1 pack of cooked beetroot, cut into chunks and thoroughly rinsed

• 1 medium-sized onion, very finely chopped

• 1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped

• 1 pint of vegetable or chicken stock

• A good bunch of fresh thyme (to taste), finely chopped

• Approximately 150g of Arborio (risotto) rice

• Goat's cheese (to taste)

Freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Salt, black pepper (to taste)

How to make

Start by chopping the onion. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan and cook the onion on low heat until softened. Add the garlic and cook on low heat until it is lightly coloured.

In the meantime, prepare the stock in a small saucepan. Keep the stock on low heat to keep it warm.

Add the beetroot chunks and thyme to the onion and garlic and cook together on low heat for a few minutes. Pour in the risotto rice, stir thoroughly, and pour in just enough hot stock to cover the vegetables. Keep the stock boiling on low to medium heat and stir regularly. Add more hot stock whenever the previous batch has been absorbed by the rice. In approximately 15 minutes (some varieties of risotto rice take slightly longer) the rice should be soft and ready to eat.

At this point, take the risotto pot off the heat and stir in the crumbled goat's cheese. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, stir thoroughly, put a lid on the risotto pan and allow to stand for a few minutes for the flavours to develop.

Serve with freshly grated parmesan, a trickle of olive oil, a grind of black pepper and some decent bread. You won't be disappointed!