Broad bean, Pea and Salmon Risotto – Family Friendly Fish

A Quick and Easy Supper Recipe for All the Family

There is nothing healthier than a little friendly competition.  When I was young, both my grandmothers would ask me and my sisters and brother, from their respective kitchen tables, who made the best scrambled eggs.  This taught us multiple lessons – diplomacy firstly, but more importantly that if we played our cards right, we would benefit from a hot breakfast with a little extra effort on each visit!

My maternal grandmother, who used to teach cookery back in the day to other young mummies, and my mother, who has her own catering company, now ask a similar question of us when serving risotto, purely in jest (I think!), as it is a family favourite.   We still know the correct answer, regardless of who is asking!

Risotto is a great all-encompassing meal that everyone in the family can enjoy together.  So, yesterday with three generations around our table for lunch, we enjoyed the recipe below.  I would love to tell you that I stood there for an hour and lovingly stirred the Arborio rice whilst adding a spoonful of stock at a time.  But I didn’t.  I cheated and used Gallo Risotto Pronto from the shelves of Sainos, super quick and equally as good.  I am pretty sure they thought it was the best they had tasted… but I forgot ask!

Broad Bean, Pea and Salmon Risotto
Serves 5
Prepped and cooked in 30 minutes

Ingredients and suggested quantities:
2 x Responsibly sourced Scottish salmon fillets
1 x Lemon
Black pepper
½ cup broad beans (we used some from the freezer that we podded a few month ago)
½ cup peas
Splash of milk
1 x leek, trimmed, halved and finely sliced
Olive oil
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 x 175g packets of Riso Gallo Risotto Pronto Porcini Mushroom
8oz king prawns (optional, but a nice addition)
Knob of butter
Parmesan shavings and chopped mint leaves to garnish

1. Pre-heat oven to 180c
2. Pop the salmon filets onto a baking tray, squeeze some lemon juice over them and then some freshly ground black pepper.  Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 7ish minutes.  Remove from the oven and break down into large chunks and set aside
3. Par-boil the broad beans and peas.  Removed the skins of the broad beans and then blitz together with the peas and a splash of milk to make a smooth puree and set aside
4. In a large flat based pan, heat the olive oil and add the leeks and garlic to soften for a few minutes before adding both packets of risotto rice.  Stir over the heat to ensure that each grain is coated in the oil for a few minutes
5. Add 1 ½ pints of water and bring to the boil for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom
6. When the rice is cooked, reduce heat, quickly stir in the pea and bean puree and the prawns, then combine together.  Add more water to loosen if necessary
7. Chuck in a knob of butter and stir
8. Pop the salmon pieces on top and season with black pepper
9. Sprinkle with parmesan and chopped mint leaves and serve immediately