Carrot & Leek Risotto with Mix-Ins

I've had zero food inspiration for a while now, and I constantly whine about this on my twitter and facebook. (Well, it feels like it's pretty constant.) Thankfully, I have lots of foodie friends, ready to provide inspiration or just remind me of stuff I really like. Like risotto. It used to be one of Titus favorite foods too, but he's a pretty picky eater right now. We placated him by serving separate bowls of mix-ins, and a pretty basic (but still flavorful) risotto. He ended up eating all of the corn (as usual) and some risotto - not bad.

Carrot & Leek Risotto with Mix-Ins
serves 3


1/2 leek, finely sliced
2 large carrots, coarsely grated
1 tbsp butter
300 ml risotto rice (use your favorite, I'm very partial to arborio)
200 ml white wine
1000 ml vegetable stock
handful of parmesan cheese
1-2 tsp runny honey
1/2-1 tsp chipotle sauce

Heat the butter in a large pot, and the stock in another pan. Fry the leek and the carrots in butter for a few minutes without letting it color. Add the rice and turn up the heat. Let it color a little. Add the wine, and let it bubble fiercely for a minute or two. Then start adding the stock. Add more as soon as the rice looks dry. It should take about 20 minutes in total - taste the rice so you know when it's done. It should have a little bite to it. You might not need all the stock, or you might need more. (just add hot water then.)

Stir in the cheese, and season with honey,  and a little bit of chipotle sauce. Use regular chilli powder or cayenne pepper if you can't get chipotle, but the lightly smoked flavor really works here.

Mix-ins:
100 g mushrooms, quartered
100 g bacon, chopped
100 g peas, thawed (or fresh)
100 g corn, thawed (or fresh)

Fry the bacon and place in a bowl. Fry the mushrooms in the bacon fat, and serve in a separate bowl. Just serve the corn and peas, separately, as they are.

Sweet Potato Risotto

Ok, here's another one of those posts where I don't have an actual recipe, because I didn't write it down at once. I don't do it very often (anymore) but it still happens. Does it happen to you, too? You know - "oh, this was great, but it was so easy and obvious, I'm sure I'll remember how I made it in a few days when I sit down to blog about it." And I'm sure I *did* remember, for a few days. But it's been a few months now, and frankly, I'm not sure.

I *think* I baked the sweet potatoes, diced, in the oven for about 20 minutes or until very soft. And I'm pretty sure I had some fried chorizo in there. Other than that, a standard risotto. Results = great. I'll definitely try to re-create it, and next time, I promise to write a recipe.