Otto What?

I have been consulting my shelf of inspiration of late, as I have been feeling a bit stuck on what to cook, or have too many ideas running through my head that I can’t focus on cooking just one thing.

I love my Ottolenghi collection, including his vegetarian book Plenty because he really is not afraid to mix up ingredients that you ordinarily might not choose.  I also love my Nigellissima book, very simple but delicious combinations.  Nigella seems to be a fan of dishes ending in ‘otto’ and upon further googling and research, it seems to be a very popular dish to prepare using the grain of your choice.  The most common being risotto, using rice.  But I have tried other ottos using pearl barley, orzo / risoni (rice shaped pasta) and now this dish, farotto, using spelt (faro in Italian).

I found a recipe by Rachel Khoo (another of my current favourites) which is a lemon and pea farotto, made with ingredients found almost all of the time at home, so its and easy mid week dinner.  It requires little preparation and unlike the risotto method, you add all the liquid at once and just wait until cooked!

Spelt is an ancient grain, different to wheat grain but of the same family.   It is high in protein, fibre, nutrient and is more easily absorbed and digested making it a much better alternative to wheat.  It also has a delicious nutty flavour and wholesome so makes for a very satisfying vegetarian dish.

Asparagus, Pea and Lemon Farotto

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

P.S This dish is so adaptable, feel free to throw in a handful of chopped herbs, mint or parsley. and for a more decadent dish, crumble some goats cheese or ricotta over the top.

Author: adapted from Rachel Khoo

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 120g Spelt grains
• 120ml white wine (verjuice or water is fine too)
• 500ml vegetarian stock
• ½ bunch asparagus, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 cup frozen peas
• ½ cup parmesan, grated
• juice of half a lemon
• pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a deep sauté pan heat the oil on a medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, until soft.
2. Add the spelt and stir until all grains coated in the oil.
3. Add the white wine and stir occasionally until the liquid has been absorbed and the alcohol will have cooked off by then.
4. Pour in the stock, cover the pan with a lid and let it bubble away for about 30 min. If you feel the liquid is not absorbing fast enough, take the lid off.
5. There will still be a little liquid still left in the pan, add the peas and asparagus and stir for a minute.
6. Add the parmesan and pepper to taste.
7. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice.

3.2.2708

I am starting up running again as I attempt my second half marathon later in the year.  So this kind of meal really appeals to me.  The beauty of this dish is that, like risotto, the combinations are endless!  And whats more, really tasty cold the next day as leftovers.