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A bright and vibrant midweek dinner. This yellow courgette risotto is satisfying and delicious in itself, but add a sticky glazed pork chop and it really becomes a highly delectable dinner choice.
Yellow courgettes may be new to you but they really do make a difference here.
They are sweeter and all the more satisfying than their green counterparts. You can make this with green courgettes but so much of flavour is in the eyes and the vibrant yellow colour of this dish always wets my appetite. Luckily for me the work garden had grown a few of these yellow beauties and so I knew this dish was on the cards.
I must say, it was a long time passing where I didn't eat a pork chop - cheap pork is often dry and lacking in flavour... but buy a decent chop from your butcher and trust me you will be hooked again. Good meat is sweeter, more moist and flavoursome. I trim the rind but keep most of the fat - if it's good meat then this will be a tasty part of your chop. Nonetheless, you can trim the fat if you so desire; the butcher will do this for you. Remember- you can always use it for crackling if you wish!
Serves: 2
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
Yellow courgette (1 large or 3 small, as in my picture)
1 Shallot or small onion (diced finely)
1 small clove of garlic (grated, crushed or finely diced)
Arborio (risotto) rice (1/2 cup)
Stock (vegetable or chicken)
White wine (half a glass)
Double Cream
Parmesan
1 Pork chop
Method:
Using a saucepan, fry the onion and garlic in a splash of olive oil on a medium/high heat, until they soften.
Add the rice and coat it in the oil - allow 1 minute of the rice toasting in the oil.
Start adding the wine, a glug at a time and stir continuously.
After the wine is used up, start using up the stock, continuing to add and stir -there isn't a strict amount of liquid you need when making a risotto, just ensure there is still liquid in the pot to be absorbed and that the rice isn't in a huge pool of liquid. Little and often is best.
Meanwhile, dice 2/3 of the courgette and fry off in a frying pan, with a little olive oil. Once these are coloured and soft, add them to the risotto.
After this, the rest of the courgette is chopped into large chunks and fried off with a touch of seasoning. Add this to the risotto at the end.
Keep stirring and tasting - add salt if needed and when the rice is cooked add a splash of cream and Parmesan to finish.
Season the Pork chop with salt and pepper and fry in the pan at a medium high heat, creating a golden-brown crust on both sides.
Singe the fat on the outside and place in the oven (200 degrees C) for 5 minutes to cook through. Do make sure your pan is ovenproof or transfer it to a baking tray if not.
Allow the pork chop 5 minutes rest and serve - make use of the pork juices and drizzle this over the risotto.