Beetroot Risotto

How good is it to have friends who write food blogs as well??? hahaha... such a good place to get inspiration and learn from each other!!!

Alice, a friend who I've known for more than 10 years now, loves cooking ever since I know her. Her cooking doesn't only taste fantastic, but also look fabulous!!! I guess because she's a very artistic person - she draws, paints, plays the piano and the chinese harp!! Wow... I can't even manage to play a presentable song on the piano!

Anyway, the other day I saw on her blog that she made a beetroot risotto, and of course I went and ask her immediately for the recipe! And all she told me was... 'use the usual risotto recipe and add in beetroot'... OK... it sounds pretty easy, and I do like risotto, so I've decided that's gonna be my next project!!!

To be honest, I have never eaten or cooked fresh beetroot before! I've only used the canned beetroot in my salad or burger, and that's all the skills I have for beetroot! =P I was a bit shaky when I had the beetroot in my hand, not knowing whether I should do a quick boil in the water first or not.... but at the end I was lazy, and wanted to save time (cos it was a week night dinner!!! And risotto does take a while to cook!!) so I didn't go into the effort of part boiling the beetroot!

Anyway, if you want the recipe I used for the risotto, you can look back to one of the older posts Risotto with Lemon Thyme, Sliced Prosciutto, Pecorino and Crumbled Goat's Cheese, but omit the lemon thyme, prosciutto, pecorino and goat cheese. And when you add the first ladle of stock, add in the diced beetroots as well, and once the risotto is done, add the crumbed fetta cheese on top.

Beetroot risotto has an amazing vibrant red colour which I love, and have a slightly sweet taste to it. And the whiteness of the fetta cheese helps to break the intense red colour of the risotto, which makes it look more interesting. Of course you have to like beetroot to like this recipe, because besides the rice, the only solid ingredient is the beetroot!

Hubby took the left over back to work the next day, and everyone was surprised and questioned what he was eating, whether he was drinking blood to match the latest vampire movie Eclipse or what. Suddenly just became the center of attention of the whole team! haha...

Again... thank you to Alice to inspire me to make this beetroot risotto!!!!