Name of Recipe: Beef 'Risotto' with basil, peas and parmesan cheese
Number of People: Serves 4-6 depending on appetite
Ingredients:60g parmesan cheese
1 clove of garlic
1 onion, quartered
90g butter or margarine
100g tomato paste or pizza sauce
400g tin tomatoes (crushed)
70g (or 1-2 tbsp) vegetable stock paste
500g beef mince
300mL water
200g (1 cup) long grain rice
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 bunch of basil (or if basil is ridiculously expensive and you can't grow your own, 2 tbsp 'gourmet garden' 'tube' style basil is fine)
Preparation:1. Put the parmesan in bowl and pulverise for 8-10 seconds on speed 9, set aside.
2. Place onion and garlic in bowl, chop for 3 seconds or so on speed 6.
3. Add butter/margarine, cook 4mins/Varoma Temp/ Speed 1/MC off.
4. Add tomato paste (or pizza sauce if using), can of tomatoes and stock paste, cook 5 mins/Varoma Temp/Speed
, you may need to place the basket on the top of the lid to prevent splattering.
5. Add mince, cook 8mins/Varoma Temp/Speed
or Speed 1 depending on mince.
6. Insert butterfly, add rice and water, cook 17mins/100
oC/
.
7. In the last minute or so, add the peas, basil and parmesan cheese til combined.
8. Place in Thermoserver until the rice is to your liking.
Tips/Hints:This is a family favourite recipe (pre TMX) adapted from AWW The Minced Meat Cookbook.
This cooking time gave us an al dente type feel to the rice, but you might find you need to adjust this to your liking.
It is a very forgiving recipe where we regularly substitute different stocks, pastes etc depending on what we have around. Basil and parmesan are staples though. Basil is difficult to grow here during winter so we have resorted to the 'tube' style which works really well in this dish.
members' commentsphatassphairy - OMG, it was a hit in the house and my hubby, son, daughter, 2 grandsons and myself all enjoyed it. I used beef stock,
added 1/2 cup of frozen peas carrot and corn (cause that is all that i had left in the freezer) in and cooked for 2 mins at the end. I used 6 large basil leaves and i sort of chopped them into fine slithers ......
Amy - it smelled absolutely delicious while cooking! It was a perfect recipe. Quick, easy, tasty, and plenty of leftovers.
JD - Wasn't sure if GS would eat risotto but knowing how much he loves spag bol, I thought I'd make this. Makes heaps and went down well with the 3 of us thanks Jamberie. I added carrot and celery with the onion but had to pick out the peas from his plate
GF - I only had 5 gm of butter in the fridge so used that and probably a tablespoon and a half of olive oil. Didn't have frozen peas so added some chopped zucchini and broccoli along with the basil. It was an absolute winner!! Served with large salad. Added to the hallowed book of family favourites!! Thanks, again!!
JD - I had enough leftovers for lunch again today so thought I'd try and make it look a bit different to fool DH. Cooked some pasta, added it to the risotto mix, had a frozen pack of cheese sauce so thawed that and poured it over the top. Topped with breadcrumbs and cheese and stuck it under the grill. Yum, loved it.
TAT - so yummy! I made it, put it in my thermoserver and took it on a 10 minute walk to my friend who had just been admitted to hospital. It smelt so good, I think we made all the nurses and other patients pea green with envy! A great recipe, and as the patient was a pea-hater, I substituted frozen corn which worked just as well. A big hit at home and at the hospital! This recipe is a keeper!
astarra - Yum...this is delicious. I didn't have peas so used frozen corn instead and the gourmet gardens tube I thought was basil was actually basil,oregano, garlic and bell pepper, so used that - yummo! Thanx Jamberie for such a flavoursome lunch!
Mills - Loved by all in our house, such a cheap easy meal and such a great way to use mince.
CC - It was a hit in this household as well Jamberie. Thank you. Got leftovers as well.
Kimmyh - We loved it. Thanks Jam, will be a regular in our house. I used basmati rice as recipe asks for long grain. Is that right, or should I have used risotto (arborio) rice?
Answer - either works.
buzzbee - made this tonight with chicken mince instead of beef mince - it was delicious! The whole family enjoyed it and I will definitely make it again. Thanks for the recipe.