Baked chorizo and asparagus risotto – a delicious, rich risotto, quick and easy to make and ready for the oven in under 10 minutes. Under 600 calories and 2 of your 5-a-day.
I like making risotto, for starters it tastes good. However, as a parent of two young children it has another huge advantage. When you make it on the hob you have to stand there and keep it stirring. It’s a great excuse for some “me time” – by me time I do mean standing at the hob stirring risotto, but there’s something I find quite therapeutic about it. The ability to answer every “muuuuuuum!” with “ask your Dad I’m making dinner and if I come now it’ll be ruined” makes me surprisingly happy. The same applies to other classics such as custard or béchamel sauce.
Unfortunately this relaxing cooking time is not always practical. Jon isn’t home from work until late which means that I’m in the house with the boys by myself cooking dinner. Despite my occasional desire to be able to block out the non-stop merry-go-round of “mum, I need you” they’re my babies, I’m here to look after them and so I’ll always go and help. This meant that my risotto had to get more practical.
I read a while ago about baked risotto and finally decided to give it a try. The great thing about it is that you spend a few minutes getting all of the ingredients ready and then pop it into the oven to cook. No being chained to the stove.
I decided to make a red wine risotto (another thing I heard about a while ago and didn’t get around to making). It has a richer flavour and compliments the chorizo really well. I’ve shunned the usual risotto cheese of parmesan for manchego. I discovered manchego a while ago when looking for a vegetarian alternative to parmesan and I wouldn’t go back. I absolutely love the flavour. However, if you’re a parmesan fan then feel free to substitute it in.
Two very important rules when making baked risotto
Whenever I can I try and share a few extra hints and tips about my recipes. Things I’ve picked up along the way from previous cooking disasters, in an attempt to help you learn from my mistakes.
I would say that of all my tips, these are definitely the most important…
- Don’t forget that the cooking pot has been in the oven and try and remove the lid with your bare hands. I’ve made this mistake several times now and I think I’ve remembered not to do this only once… it hurts. The time saved from not standing stirring the risotto is then wasted holding my hand under the cold tap trying to cool my burnt hand. This leads me to number 2…
- Don’t polish off the wine while the risotto is cooking. I suspect that the chances of me remembering to put my oven gloves on would be much higher if I didn’t sample some of the wine (just to make sure it’s OK) while I’m cooking.
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Baked Chorizo and Asparagus Risotto
Equipment
- Large ovenproof pan with lid
- Spoon
- Sharp knife & chopping board
- Measuring jug
- Grater
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 red onion
- 130 g chorizo - I buy ready diced to save time
- 300 g arborio rice
- 150 ml red wine - see note 1
- 400 g can chopped tomatoes
- A few sprigs thyme
- 400 ml chicken stock - or 400ml water and 1 chicken stock cube
- 125 g asparagus - this is the weight with the woody bits removed
- 125 g frozen peas
- 50 g manchego cheese - see note 2
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC/200ºC fan
- Finely chop the red onion.
- Heat the olive oil (1 tsp) in a large pan, add the red onion and chopped chorizo (130g) and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes stirring regularly to avoid burning.
- Add the arborio rice (300g) and cook for a further minute, stirring regularly.
- Add the red wine (150ml), chopped tomatoes (400g can), chicken stock (400ml) and thyme and bring to the boil.
- While the risotto is coming to the boil, roughly chop the asparagus (so each one is in about three pieces).
- Once the risotto is bubbling, add the asparagus, put the lid on and put into the oven for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, add the frozen peas (125g) and stir. Return to the oven for a further 8-10 minutes until the rice is just soft but still has a little bite to it - you may want to check the risotto occasionally to ensure that it's not too dry. If it looks dry before the rice is fully cooked, add a little more water and give it a stir.
- While the risotto is cooking, finely grate the manchego cheese (50g).
- Once the rice is cooked, remove from the oven (don't forget the hot lid!), remove the sprigs of thyme and stir in the grated cheese - you may also want to add a little salt to your taste. Personally I choose not to as there's plenty in the other ingredients for my tastes.
- Serve.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Maija says
I replaced the peas with mushrooms and added a bit of extra asparagus. Oven method was great but next time I will make sure to leave the rice a bit more al dente. Unfortunately, I did not heed the warning about testing the wine’s drinkability (it was).
Susan says
This was the first time I have baked risotto and it came out great, just as good as on the stovetop. The red wine and tinned tomatoes sounded odd to me but it worked well. I used fresh broad beans instead of the peas and added them at the same time as the asparagus. Very tasty!
Lara says
This is a great recipe, so easy and delicious.
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
This is a lovely risotto recipe, and well done for getting all that #ExtraVeg in. Thanks for linking up and apologies for being slow to come and share and comment.
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Helen, we really enjoy it and being baked it’s really easy to make.
Honest mum says
My eldest can’t eat wheat so we love making risottos, yummy! Yours looks amazing, I don’t eat pork so would leave that out but an asparagus, creamy version would be right up my street. Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays x
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried it without the chorizo but I’d imagine it’ll still taste good. You’ll have to let me know how it goes if you try it.
Jenny says
I am so looking forward to trying this out. Looks amazing and sounds absolutely delicious. Popping over from #recipeoftheweek
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Jenny, I hope you enjoy it x
Elizabeth @ Rosalilium says
Risotto is really a dish I forget about it to be honest but these are totally my kind of flavours. I might try it without the cheese, but sounds delish! Adding it to my Pinterest.
#TastyTuesdays
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Elizabeth. I sometimes forget to stir in the cheese and it still tastes good!
Hayley @ Snap Happy Bakes says
These are some of my favourite flavours, and I’ll have to try the baked way. It sounds much easier! Great photos, love the styling 🙂 Thanks for linking to #CookBlogShare
Charlotte Oates says
The baked way is brilliant if you’ve got a lot on as you can just pop it into the oven and get on with everything else.
Ben Groom says
Genius with the parenting tip! And I looovvvve chorizo, so this is definitely on my ‘to try’ list!
Charlotte Oates says
Excellent, I hope you enjoy it
Amy says
This looks divine! I’ve never tried baked risotto, will have to give it a try next time. Thanks! #TastyTuesdays
Charlotte Oates says
It’s a great alternative to regular risotto if you’re short of time. I hope you enjoy enjoy it.
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
Oh wow this looks so delicious! It contains some of my favourite flavours like chorizo and manchego x
Charlotte Oates says
Glad to have found another manchego fan. I think it gets overshadowed by Parmesan but it’s so delicious.
Mel says
I love a nice, practical recipe like this one. Just put rice, chorizo and asparaagus together and I’m in heaven! xx
Charlotte Oates says
They’re a great combination aren’t they!
Katy | Her Cup of Joy says
Your risotto looks delicious! I am excited to hear that risotto can be made in an oven, I love recipes where I can eliminate extra time spent around the stove 🙂 and cooking with kids is definitely a juggling act!
Charlotte Oates says
It makes it so much easier, and depending on what you put into it you can pretty much put it straight in with no effort. It’s all in one pot too so saves time cleaning up.
Mummy Tries says
This sounds delicious hon. Love that you get some me time making risotto – I’m exactly the same – find being in the kitchen so therapeutic. I’ve never tried making a baked risotto before, but if we go back on the grains I’m definitely giving it a try 🙂
Charlotte Oates says
I’m so impressed with how strict your are with your diet. I wish I had a little of your willpower!
James @ HalfMarathonJames says
Very good advice with the wine… I made that mistake when cooking a 3 hour bolognese, when my dinner guests arrived I was not in a good way…
Charlotte Oates says
Did you drink constantly through the 3 hours? No wonder you were in a state!
Vicki Montague - The Free From Fairy says
This looks great and I know what you mean about needing practical recipes! I always seem to find myself cooking and then the kids needing me! I find it very tricky to get tea done whilst being ‘needed’! The TV comes in handy!
Charlotte Oates says
Even if I sort everything out so they’re entertained while I cook there’s always something that’ll come up that needs my urgent attention. Sometimes we just have to accept that dinner’s a little more well done than it should be!