Eat Simply, Eat Well

Healthy recipes & tips to help you live the good life. by Ann Plough

Porcini, Roasted Carrot and Rosemary Oat “Risotto”

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I really struggled with the name of this post.  Here’s why:  most of us have a clear understanding of and experience with Risotto:  that wonderful, self-saucing Italian wonder typically made with Arborio, Carnoroli or other short grained white rice whose high levels of starch meld with the broth during the cooking and stirring of the dish to make a creamy, tender dish with just a tiny bite from the rice cooked al dente and, quite often, made even more delectable by a generous addition of grated Parmagiano Reggiano.

That’s all good so far.  But then, we who like to play in the kitchen can’t necessarily leave a good thing alone.  Not content at letting rice be the lone star in a dish this glorious, we start playing with other grains: spelt!  barley! and…. now…. oats!

But there’s a problem.  Risotto is called risotto because it contains RICE.  Now for those of us who’s knowledge of the Italian language starts and stops with the food we eat from that venerable cuisine, butchering the meaning and intent of a word like “Risotto” by preceding it with other grains, i.e. “Barley Risotto”, doesn’t necessarily cause us to grit our teeth.  But, as Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food Movement told us a few years ago in Loviissa, Finland when served a “Spelt Risotto” – “You can’t call it Risotto if there is no Rice!”  Um…so…”Speltsotto?”  No.  But what, then?  A pilaf it certainly is not.

The problem is that when a word is adopted from another language into English, it often loses part of the original meaning, and can come to be a representative of an idea: in this case, “risotto” to a non-Italian can imply “a creamy savory grain porridge of some sort; definitely delicious”.  And unless there is no modifier indicating the use of another whole grain, we understand that there will be rice in the dish.  If not, well, then, most diners accept without question that calling something “Barley Risotto” is perfectly reasonable, and proceed to enjoy their meal without further discussion.

Which brings me back to oats.  The white, short grain rice varieties typically used to make risotto, while delicious, are refined foods and don’t tend to be very nutritious, unfortunately.  Oats, on the other hand, (also barley and spelt) are a healthy whole grain option.  In fact there are a number of chefs looking for a whole grain alternative when creating risotto, beginning, not surprisingly, with the use of short grain brown rice.

Whole oats – steamed lightly but left whole, or steel cut – take a lot longer to cook than rolled oats, but patience pays off because cooking releases some of the starch in the oats creating the creamy saucy texture so loved in risotto, but with all of the health benefits left intact.  Oat fiber is particularly important for heart health: just one bowl of oatmeal a day can lower your cholesterol 8-23% studies show.  (One cup of oats contains close to 4 grams of fiber.)  It has a myriad of health benefits which I won’t go into in detail, but which you can find here and read at your leisure.

This recipe calls for whole oat groats:  those with the husk removed but left uncut.  You can find these at health food stores and some grocery stores.  If you can’t find them, steel-cut oats (sometimes called Irish oats) are a really good option here too.  Take a look here for further descriptions and pictures.

I eat oats for breakfast nearly every day:  whole oat groats, steel cut or old-fashioned rolled oats.  But oats aren’t just for breakfast.  They pair really well with savory foods for a lunch or dinner main course, as with this oat risotto.  Once again I’ve used porcini here: both the reconstituted dried porcini and its soaking water are used in this dish, along with a sprig of rosemary and sweet roasted carrots and wonderful, savory, salt Parmagiano Reggiano.  The best part about this dish is that, unlike traditional risotto, you don’t need to stand there and stir it most of the time.  You add the liquid all at once, put the lid on ajar, set the timer, and walk away for a while, returning only to put the finishing touches on your fabulous main course. Buon Appetito!

Porcini, Roasted Carrot and Rosemary Oat “Risotto”

Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F

1 oz / 30 g dried porcini
1 liter boiling water
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into strips
salt, pepper, olive oil for sprinkling over carrots
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 cups / 3 dl whole oat groats or steel cut oats
1 teaspoon salt
one 1″ / 2.5 cm sprig rosemary, leaves picked and minced
1/2 cup finely grated Parmagiano Reggiano
salt and pepper to taste

Place your dried porcini in a heat-proof bowl.  Pour the boiling water over the top of them, push the mushrooms down into the water to make sure they are all covered, and set aside to steep.

Peel and cut the carrots, place them on a baking try, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Using your fingers, mix the carrots around to make sure they are completely covered in oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Place a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat.  Pour the olive oil into the pot and then add the onions.  Simmer the onions until they are soft and translucent; about 5 minutes.  While the onion cooks, strain the mushrooms, making sure to save all of the soaking liquid.  This will be added back into the dish.  Roughly chop the mushrooms.

Add the garlic; stir briefly.  Add the oat groats and cook for 3-4 minutes more, stirring constantly the oats toast.  Add the mushrooms, then all of the soaking water, rosemaryand the one teaspoon salt. Bring the mixture to a boil; reduce to medium-low; cover the pot partially with a lid, and allow the mixture to simmer for 30 minutes.

When the carrots are done, remove from the oven and chop them into a medium dice.  Add the carrots to the oat mixture.  Taste the oat mixture to see if the oats are done to al dente.  If not, continue to cook. Once the oats are done, turn off the heat and stir in the Parmagiano Reggiano.  Taste the mixture and adjust the salt and pepper, if needed.

Serves 4.

Tropical Sunrise Oatmeal Breakfast Bowl

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Who of us living in a place where the dark, cold months have descended upon us doesn’t dream of a tropical sunrise this time of year?  We are fast approaching the longest night of the year here in Finland.  Yes, I mean longest night, not the shortest day.  It’s the darkness you notice when it seems to go on forever.  It is still dark outside my window as I write this, and according to the weather app on my trusty old iPhone 4S (it’s still working well, so no urgency for an upgrade quite yet) the sun will rise this morning at 9:10 PM and set at 3:13 PM.  That means that we’ll be spending 3/4 of the day in twilight and darkness.

When the sun does shine on Winter days like these, the sunrise and sunset are both wildly glorious, with yellow, orange, pink and red colors that streak across the horizon where the sky meets the sea beyond Helsinki, and sometimes up into the low-lying smattering of clouds just above.  Beautiful and deceptive: though the sun beckons promisingly through the window with its bright rays, the temperatures are no where near tropical.  But the sun doesn’t always shine, no matter the season.

It doesn’t matter.  The best thing you can do is cook yourself a satisfying breakfast that will warm you from the inside out, topped with fresh fruit and nuts that remind you of warmer places and climates.  Then wrap yourself up in a cozy winter parka, hat, scarf, gloves – and go on out there and embrace the cold and the season. Winter is a time for rest and renewal, and this breakfast bowl will help you make the most of it.

A few notes:

  • I highly recommend using steel cut oats or whole oat grains for this (and any oat porridge breakfast).  The texture is far superior and so satisfying to eat.  But if you are in a rush, the old fashioned rolled oats take just a few minutes and are a great substitute.  Or, you can make the oats the night before and refrigerate, then reheat them in the morning for breakfast.  I do this all the time if I know I need to get out of the door quickly in the morning.  They also freeze well.
  • Toasting the oats is not absolutely necessary, but highly recommended as it adds a really nice depth of flavor to the finished porridge
  • Vanilla extract is best for this.  If you can’t find it, you can use vanilla sugar, but the flavor won’t be as great.
  • Other unrefined sugars could be used in place of the honey

Tropical Sunrise Oatmeal Breakfast Bowl

For slow-cooked oats:
1 cup / 250 ml of steel cut oats or whole oat grains
2 1/2 cups / 600 ml water
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

For quicker oats:
1 cup / 240 ml old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 cup / 350 ml water
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

For the fruit topping
1/4 cup boiling water
3 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Clementines, peeled, seeded, separated into segments; each segment cut in half
1 banana, diced small
1 cup diced pineapple
4 tablespoons Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons raw cashews, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes

Make the oatmeal:
Place a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Once it is warm, add the oats and toast lightly in the dry pan, stirring often, for one minute.  Add the water and bring to a boil.  Add the salt.  Lower heat to a simmer, cover with a lid, and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn off heat, keep lid on, and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

If cooking slow-cooked oats, let rest for 30 minutes, then re-warm the oats slightly. The rest of the directions are the same as above.

Make the topping:
In a small bowl, combine the boiling water and honey and stir until the honey has dissolved.  Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine.  Add the fruit and coconut flakes and stir well to coat the fruit with the syrup.

Divide the oat porridge between two bowls.  Divide the fruit mixture across the top of the oats.  Spoon the Greek Yogurt into the middle of each bowl on top of the fruit.  Sprinkle with cashews.

Serves 2.

Borscht

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I first tasted Borscht nearly 20 years ago. It was made during a celebration of Russian food as part of an International week program.  At first I took only a small amount of the soup, certain that, since I’d never liked beets up to that point, this wasn’t going to be a meal that I would be excited about.  It was served with a spoonful of smetana (a version of sour cream found in Central and Eastern Europe, more like creme fraiche than the sour cream I’d eaten in the US) and a few slices of rye bread.  I ended up going back for a second bowl, and then a third, delighted by the sweet, earthy flavor of the beets balanced with the savory beef broth and offset by the addition of either vinegar or lemon – I wasn’t sure which.

Fast forward 15 year later, and I found myself living in Finland, newly married, with a husband who’s favorite soup was Borscht, and decided I would learn how to make it well.  No surprise, really, that there are Borscht lovers in Finland: the soup originates from Ukraine, and can be found in various forms and mildly differing recipes in Russia, Estonia, Hungary, Ukraine, Poland and Belarus, to name a few.  The name and ingredients vary slightly from region to region, but in most places, the unifying factor is that beets are the main ingredient, usually with the addition of tomato paste, and nearly always made with beef or pork broth.  Vegetarian version are good too, as long as mushrooms are used to add the much-needed umami that gives this soup its addictive qualities.

There is no better time to eat Borscht than during the Winter months.  Beetroot is in ample supply, and something about the cold dark days make a flavorful soup like this one a welcome sight on the table.  I nearly always serve it with rye bread or archipelago bread, and typically not with smetana.  If possible, I use beef broth, and pre-cooked beef, added during the last 10 minutes or so of cooking.  A good day to make Borscht is on the day after you’ve cooked a beef roast or braised oxtail.  Save some of the beef for this soup.

If starting with raw beef, you can also cook the diced beef briefly in the bottom of the soup until it is nicely browned on all sides, and then remove it and set aside while you brown the onions.  If you do this, add the beef back in when you add the liquid so it has time to cook and tenderize.  You can also make Borscht without beef, if preferred.  The recipe below includes it; to cook without it, make the recipe as is, but omit the beef.

Because it’s main ingredient is beetroot, this soup is bursting with nutrients as well.  Beetroot is a good source of folic acid, potassium, magnesium and iron, along with Vitamins A, B6 and C.

This version is quicker than other Borscht recipes I’ve made as it doesn’t call for roasting the beets first. Instead, you grate the raw beets and add them directly to the pot where the deep red from their juices provides the soup with it’s stunning color.  If there are leftovers, this soup freezes really well.

Borscht

2 tablespoons rapeseed oil or other cooking oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large raw beets, grated
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cups / 2.5 dl cabbage, sliced thinly
6 cups / 1.5 liters beef broth (can substitute vegetable broth; if so, add 1/2 ounce dried porcini)
1 cup / 250 ml crushed canned tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup / 2.5 dl cooked beef, cut into small pieces (you can leave this out, if preferred)
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup / 1/2 dl lemon juice or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Heat the oil in a 3-quart/3-liter pot over medium heat; add onion and carrot.  Cook for 5 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent.  Add the garlic, beets, potatoes.  Cook for another 2 minutes, stirring to combine.  Add the beef broth all at once.  Add the tomatoes and tomato paste.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and allow the soup to cook for 10 minutes.  Add the cabbage and beef and continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes.  Remove the soup from heat and add the salt, pepper, vinegar and sugar.  Taste, and if necessary, adjust the seasonings; depending on the saltiness of your beef broth, you may need more salt.  You want there to be a sweet-sour balance in the soup.

Ladle into bowls and serve with rye bread or archipelago bread and soft butter.

Serves 4-6.