Storecupboard baked risotto recipe

This baked risotto is flavoured with peas, mint and lemon, and it’s easy to throw together with common storecupboard ingredients for a quick and cheap Monday night dinner.

If you use a pan with a lid that can safely be transferred from the hob to the inside of the oven it saves on waste and washing up. Never a bad thing in my book.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• A little olive oil 
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 150g risotto rice (Carnaroli is by far the best for this)
• 1 heaped teaspoon dried mint
• Small pinch dried basil (optional)
• 350ml hot vegetable stock
• 150g frozen peas
• Zest and juice of half a lemon
• 50g Grana Padano cheese, finely grated

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C or Gas 6. For fan ovens, reduce heat to 180C.

2. Gently cook the onion in the oil on a medium to low heat for a few minutes until it softens and becomes translucent, adding a sprinkle of black pepper during cooking.

3. Sprinkle on the dried mint, and basil if using.

4. Add the hot vegetable stock, stirring well, and as soon as it starts to bubble put the lid on the pan and transfer the risotto to the hot oven.

5. After 15 minutes, quickly stir the frozen peas into the risotto before replacing the lid and putting the risotto back into the oven for another 3-4 minutes.

6. After the peas have cooked, gently stir in the lemon juice and zest and 30g of cheese. 

7. Serve sprinkled with the remaining cheese and some more black pepper.

If you want to make this more luxurious, you can use petit pois or fresh peas, use fresh herbs instead of dried (add at the end of cooking), omit 100ml of stock and replace it with white wine, or replace the Grana Padano with lots of fresh Parmesan.