Sweet Potato and Spinach Risotto
You’ll need:
4 Tbsp butter, or thereabouts
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup arborio rice
1 shallot, diced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 carton stock of choice (4 cups)
fresh (not frozen!) spinach, washed & dried
1/2 cup white wine
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
A boatload of parmesan cheese
Dried rosemary
salt & pepper to taste
First, prep your potatoes. Preheat oven to 400F and put on a small pot of water to boil. Toss 1 cubed sweet potato with olive oil, a pinch of salt, a sprinkle of dried rosemary, and the diced shallot. Pop it in the oven, stirring every 5 or 10 minutes, until a fork pierces the sweet potato easily. Boil the other sweet potato until mashable. Drain and, once cool, mash it with a fork. Reserve.
Melt butter in medium-sized pot. Stir in onions and cook 10 minutes over medium heat, until they begin to caramelize. Add rice, stirring constantly for a few minutes. Add 1/2 a cup of broth, stirring until absorbed. Continue by adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, until about a cup and a half remains. Then swirl in about half of the mashed sweet potato, letting it melt into the risotto. Alternate between sweet potato and broth, reserving half a cup of broth. Add wine and balsamic vinegar, along with salt, pepper and rosemary to taste. Add a heap of parmesan cheese, reserving some to garnish. Finish it off with your last half cup of broth, a mountain of spinach, and an extra tablespoon of butter for a treat. Take off the heat and stir in your roasted sweet potato. Viola!
From the time you added the rice to the onions, about 25 minutes should have elapsed.
Serve with grated parmesan.