Smoked Haddock And Spinach Risotto

Smoked Haddock is something I love, it is always tasty and lends itself to all kinds of different recipes.  I also love Risotto but don’t always have the time to stand over the pan, stirring gently – much as I enjoy that when I have the time.  This recipe ticks a lot of boxes for me, it is an all in one pot, it has plenty of veg in it. it’s tasty, it doesn’t take long to make and I can put it in the oven and walk away to wrap up work for the day knowing it doesn’t need watching.

This quantity is for one hungry person but it scales up well for larger numbers, just leave it in the oven for a few minutes longer.  I find I am always greedy for this so I tend to make a decent bowlful or it is gone too soon.  It is best made in a casserole type dish that you can use on the hob and put in the oven, but if your saucepans are of the variety that will go in the oven then they will do fine.

You can make it with other types of fish, any firm fish that flakes will do though I would avoid anything too oily like Mackerel as that spoils the texture somewhat.

Make sure you use a Risotto Rice, I prefer Arborio for this recipe, an ordinary rice will not work properly and you get left with a gooey mess as I discovered when, in the interests of testing the recipe, I tried it with both a basic long grain and Basmati – just to see if would pass muster.  Trust me, it didn’t!

There is no need to have anything else with this to make a complete meal but if you want a bit of ‘crunch’ then some Garlic Bread would work well with it.

Ingredients

• Small Knob of Butter
• 1 small Onion, Diced
• 100 g / 4 ozs Arborio Rice
• 225 mls / 8 fl ozs Fish or Vegetable stock
• 125 g / 5 ozs Smoked Haddock
• 80 mls / 3 fl ozs Milk
• 1 tbsp Creme Fraiche
• 25-50 g / 1-2 ozs Parmesan
• Salt & Pepper
• Large handful of fresh, or a couple of blocks of frozen Spinach

Method