A lovely simple risotto with green peas, asparagus, parmesan and fresh herbs that is cooked in the oven.

My Baked Spring Risotto is exactly what I feel like eating when the weather starts to warm up. Studded with green vegetables and finished with a squeeze of lemon I just love the flavour of this risotto. However, I don’t enjoy standing over a pot stirring constantly to make risotto the traditional way for a simple week night dinner, instead this risotto bakes in the oven!

Ingredients needed:

Butter

Onion and garlic

Salt and pepper

Arborio Rice, it really does need to be Arborio for risotto

Chicken Stock

Parmesan cheese, I like parmesan however you can use cheddar

Frozen peas, thawed

Asparagus, must be fresh asparagus for this recipe, not canned or frozen

Fresh herbs, I have used mini basil, other herbs such as mint, parsley or basil would all work nicely

Cream, you can leave this out if you want to cut down on the dairy

Lemon, or lime, or lemon juice can be used here

How to make Baked Spring Risotto:

Start by preheating the oven to 180 degrees fan bake.

Next step is to sauté the onions in butter until translucent, season them with salt and pepper while they are cooking. Cook them slowly and gently so that they don’t colour.

Add the garlic and arborio rice and stir with a wooden spoon so that the rice gets coated in the lovely salty butter and toasts a little in the pan. You don’t want the garlic to burn so simply cook for a minute then add the stock.

Bring to a boil, then place the lid on the pot and transfer to the oven to finish off cooking. The risotto will take around 20 – 30 minutes, I like to stir it half way through so it doesn’t stick.

While the risotto is cooking, cut your asparagus. I like to break off the woody ends, then cut on the diagonal, because it looks appealing, into 3 pieces.

Steam the asparagus in a pot over boiling water until only just cooked. We still want them to be nice and tender as the asparagus will continue to cook a little after it is taken off the heat and no one likes flabby asparagus.

Take the cooked risotto from the oven, add the peas, parmesan, cream, and butter and stir to combine. Now add the asparagus and squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Taste the risotto and add more seasoning if needed. I found that my risotto didn’t need more seasoning as my stock was salty and I added seasoning to the onions while cooking.

Finally sprinkle over the fresh herbs and serve.

If you are looking for more easy dinner ideas check out my posts for Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta and Kung Pao Chicken.

Common questions about Baked Spring Risotto:

Can I use different vegetables? Absolutely, you can use roasted vegetables, frozen corn, fresh rocket, the options are endless really 😊

Can I add some protein? Bacon or chicken would be lovely in this risotto.

What wine would match with this risotto? A Sauvignon Blanc would be lovely with the fresh green flavours, and citrus from the lemon in this recipe.