Put on your sunglasses – this beet risotto is bright, hot pink!

I recently got a thank-you note from my niece, Sophie, and she told me I should write a blog post about the beet risotto she remembers eating at my house. To be honest, I can’t believe she remembers! She must have been quite young (she’s now 17), and it’s not often these days that children like beets! I know, I know, many people are not keen on beets, but do give this a try – it’s not like the usual plate of beets!

I first ate beet risotto at a department potluck when I was in graduate school. We had a visiting professor that year from Italy, and he brought beet risotto. I never got his exact recipe, but I love beets with blue cheese, so I took the basic procedure for risotto, and came up with this.

Some notes first: I like to roast beets to concentrate the flavor. I always do this a day or two ahead, sometimes as soon as I get the beets home, and then keep them in the fridge until I’m ready to make risotto. As with any risotto, be sure to get low sodium broth, and even then I dilute it. The flavor and saltiness concentrate as the rice absorbs the liquid, and you can always add salt, but you can’t take it away. Different blue cheeses can vary widely in intensity, so select one that’s to your taste. Finally, this keeps well and reheats nicely in the microwave, so this recipe has provided me with many a happy lunch at work!

So here it is, at Sophie’s request:

Beet Risotto

2 medium or 3 small beets
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or homemade, or vegetable broth for a vegetarian version)
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup chopped onion or shallot
1½ cups Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine (or less if that’s all you have leftover!)
3 ounces High Lawn Farm Blue or other blue cheese, crumbled
Chopped flat leaf parsley for garnish (optional – looks pretty, but I never do this when it’s just us!)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Clean the beets and remove the greens if they are attached. (Don’t throw them out! See below for something you can do with beet greens.) Place the beets in a baking pan and add about ¼ cup water. Cover tightly with foil and roast for 45-60 minutes until the beets can be pierced easily with a cake tester or a knife. (It will take longer if they are larger.) Allow to cool until able to be handled, then peel the beets over the sink to keep the color contained. The skins should come right off just by rubbing them, but you can use paper towel or a small knife on any stubborn spots. Your hands may get a bit pink, but it will come off! Or use rubber gloves. (If you use yellow or Chioggia beets the color won’t run as much, but your risotto also won’t be bright pink!) Cut the cooked beets into ¾-inch dice and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Place the broth in a medium saucepan and add 3 cups water. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to keep it just barely at a simmer on the burner behind the burner where you will make the risotto.

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan heat the butter and oil together over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent and just barely beginning to brown on the edges. Add the rice and stir for about a minute until rice is coated with the oil. Add the wine and stir until it is almost completely absorbed.

Set a timer for 13 minutes, and begin adding the broth to the rice, 1-2 ladlesful* at a time, stirring continually to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom. Allow the broth to absorb almost completely before adding the next 1-2 ladlesful of broth. When the timer buzzes, add the reserved cubed beets. Set the timer for another 5 minutes and continue cooking, adding more broth as needed to keep the level of liquid just at the level of the rice (see photo). If you think you might run out of broth, just add a bit more water to the broth pot.

When the timer buzzes, taste a piece or two of rice. (You may not have used all the broth, and that’s fine. Be sure to turn off the heat on that burner, too!) It should be tender but still firm in the middle, al dente, similar to the desired doneness for pasta. If it is still too hard, continue cooking in the same way, adding broth and stirring as it absorbs, for a few more minutes. Add the blue cheese and stir to combine until it melts into the risotto. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

If there are leftovers, I find it helpful to stir another ladleful of cool broth into the cooled risotto before putting into the refrigerator.

Sautéed Beet Greens with Pine Nuts and Golden Raisins

Clean the beet greens well and chop. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add to the oil 2-3 garlic cloves cut in half. (This will flavor the oil, and then I remove the pieces before serving. I find it easier not to use minced garlic because it can burn easily and get bitter.) Add ¼ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, 1-2 Tablespoons of pine nuts and 1-2 Tablespoons of golden raisins (all optional). Sauté briefly until the garlic begins to take on color. If using nuts, be careful not let them burn. Add the beet greens with a pinch of salt and a grinding of pepper, and toss until wilted. Drizzle with a bit of balsamic vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice, remove the garlic pieces, and serve.

*Grammar nerd that I am, I prefer ladlesful as the plural of ladleful, analogous to sons-in-law or runners-up. But the red dots under the word in draft form suggest that the accepted plural is changing to ladlefuls. I’m sticking with ladlesful, but, then what about handfuls?!

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