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Kate

Hidden kale risotto

I created this while trying to find a great way of disguising kale for the children to eat. It worked perfectly! It was gone in minutes; they got a great dose of calcium and other essential vitamins and minerals as well as a tasty dinner. This hidden kale risotto makes a bright green meal with no 'bits' to complain about. It's great for adults too, with its hints of lemon and pumpkin seed crunch. Officially it takes about 50 minutes to make this, although half of that is the risotto sitting in the oven, so plenty of time for other things. Dairy and gluten free (if you don't go for the optional goats cheese).
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1250 ml vegetable stock or 1250ml water and 2 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic sliced
  • 250 g kale washed and roughly chopped*
  • 15 cm leek or ½ small onion finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp virgin olive oil
  • 300 g Arborio risotto rice
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Nutmeg for grating as garnish
  • 40 g pumpkin seeds dry fried in frying pan for extra crunch, or as they are
  • 150 g 150g fresh goat cheese, crumbled optional

Method
 

  1. Boil the water and salt or stock in a large sauce pan. Add pepper and sliced garlic.
  2. Add kale to the water and cook for about 7 minutes or until the stems are very tender.
  3. Preheat oven to 200 C.
  4. Remove the kale and garlic from the broth with a slotted spoon and place into a blender. Add about 60ml of the broth and puree until the kale is very smooth. Set the puree aside until the end.
  5. Save the broth in the pot and keep it hot.
  6. Heat the olive oil in a large oven proof dish or pan. Add the leek or onion and cook until softened (about 3 minutes). Stir in the rice, and cook until all the rice is coated with oil and looks chalky (about 3 minutes). Add the broth and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and put the dish in the oven for 25 minutes.
  7. Remove from the oven, and add the kale puree and lemon zest and mix aggressively to make creamy.
  8. Dish out onto plates, grate a little nutmeg on top and sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds. If you like, you can also add some crumbled goats cheese, although it works perfectly without.

Notes

*If I don’t have enough kale, I add any spinach, peas or beans I have in the fridge!