Lemon Risotto
A balm for the early spring blues. The sun is here. The temperature is still catching up.
Winter has started to retreat to its den, and spring is starting to crawl out of last year’s leaf-litter and make green the trees again. Despite the light, it’s still a little cold, I’m over-scheduled, and I’m stir-crazy and impatient to get to the Outdoor Sports part of the year. I dream of long hours just rolling around town on my bike, no destination, no goal, just me & the machine & a little painting kit in my pannier.
Maybe by the time you’re reading this, we’ll be there for the season.1 It’s so close. But not quite yet.
So it’s lemon risotto, because I need to eat some sunshine. Surprise! I grabbed somebody else’s recipe for once.
It was lovely—luscious and creamy and bright and zingy and just really, really wonderful. I’ll list my modifications at the end (including the one I wish I had made!).
I won’t reprint the recipe because I really didn’t change much—click below for the recipe.
Risotto Mods
Two sticks of celery instead of one. It just didn’t seem like enough. I don’t think it would have been (for my taste anyway).
Zest from two lemons instead of one. Nobody likes zesting lemons, but two zested lemons and I taste the zest; one zested lemon and I might as well not zest any, in my opinion. I still only juiced one lemon.
1 c peas added in the final few minutes, just before the parmesan, for texture + vitamins.
And my one regret, the only thing I would add if I were to make this again…
A block of small diced, pan-fried tempeh for protein & more variety. I might toss it in a gentle little herb blend. Nothing too wild. The lemon’s still the star.
Happy cooking, babes.
Love,
Shell 🐚
P.S. Risotto Tuesday is ONE MONTH OLD today. 🎉 If you’ve enjoyed reading it so far, would you share it with a friend?
Loves, I think we are.
Happy One Month Anniversary!!! Thanks for the modifications. I am going to add the peas cause I seem to be adding them to everything lately.