Last night, for the first time in ages I spent Saturday night in on my own. Andy was out and I couldn't recruit anyone to come and keep me company so there I was home alone. I wasn't looking forward to the prospect but then I decided to use the opportunity of a night by myself to indulge in the things that Andy doesn't like, namely X-Factor and risotto!
First things first lets talk about X-Factor! I didn't watch any of it last year. Andy really doesn't like it and we only had one TV. I could have put my foot down and watched it anyway but then I would have had to put up with the complaining. It didn't seem worth it.
Well sorry Andy but I watched it last night and I'm hooked! OK so I know its super staged and cheesy but its so much fun and I get quite emotional watching it. (nothing to do with the whole bottle of wine I drank of course!) It was the Liverpool auditions last night which was special to me because I lived there for 5 years. I don't think you will find people more passionate than scousers and they didn't disappoint. My favorite by far was Christopher Maloney, the older guy who came to the auditions with his lovely Nan and was massively nervous. I actually cried when he sang because he was so good. I cant help it, I'm an emotional wreck with these things and a sucker for a good sob story. Anyway my Saturday nights are sorted for the next few months now!
So along with my emotional reality TV fix, I made myself something else that Andy wouldn't like but that's always been one of my favorite things to eat- risotto!.
I sometimes order it in a restaurant but not often as it is really carb-heavy and restaurants usually finish it with lots of butter, cream and cheese so they can be really stodgy and fattening. Also because of the high fat content in some risottos, you often get a relatively small potion. I don't do small portions and I wanted a big bowl of silky risotto, with loads of flavour and minimal fat. The perfect comfort food dish for one! It comes in at around 550 calories which may sound like a lot but actually for a complete meal its not bad, also it makes a MASSIVE portion so most people would probably be able to scale it down (or even serve 2 with it) to suit smaller appetites. It does have cheese in it but only 20g and you really don't need any more than that as hard Italian cheese like parmesan or pecorino have such a strong flavour.
Here's how I did it:
Ingredients:
75g Arborio rice
100 ml white wine
600ml chicken/vegetable stock
1 Medium sized courgette
1 Red pepper
1/2 Onion
20g Pecorino or any had Italian cheese
1 Large clove of garlic
2 Teaspoons olive oil
Handful fresh basil
Directions:
Preheat the oven to around 180 degrees C. Chop the red pepper into 1cm pieces and roast in 1 teaspoon of olive oil for 15 minutes.
While the peppers are roasting, fry the onion, garlic and courgette in a saucepan with 1 teaspoon of olive oil for about 3-4 minutes until the volume is reduced and the veg is translucent.
Add the rice and cook for a further 2 minutes making sure the rice is all fully coated.
Add the wine and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed. Then add the stock a bit at a time, adding more when the liquid has been absorbed and stirring occasionally to stop it sticking to the pan. It should take around 20 minutes until all the stock is absorbed and the rice is cooked but still firm.
Add the roasted peppers at the last minute, stir in the grated pecorino and chopped basil and season to taste.
I saved some of the pecorino and basil to sprinkle over the top to make it look pretty!
I treated myself to a bottle of white wine to go with it. It was on rollback at Asda so I got it for a fiver when it should have been about £7.As I've said before I don't know much about wine especially white wine but I loved it. It was dry but really fruity and light. I finished the whole bottle by myself!
The perfect Saturday night in by myself. Wine, risotto and my choice in TV. I wouldn't want to do it every week but as a one off it was actually really nice.
Today I'm going to go to the gym and then reward my hard work with a low fat tiramisu! See you soon! xxx
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