Chicken, leek and pea speltotto with vermouth
Chicken, leek and pea speltotto with vermouth
There are two ways you can go when it comes to leftovers. You can be frugal and restrained – the freekeh with roast vegetable recipe uses this approach – or you can go luxurious. This speltotto is such a dish. It takes very humble ingredients and enriches them with a bit of cream and a slosh of vermouth. (You can leave the cream out if you are watching your fat intake. It will be less luxurious, but still good.)
Using spelt – which is a healthy alternative – produces a less creamy risotto than arborio rice, but on the up side, it doesn’t need to be stirred constantly.
Ingrediënten
- 2 leeks coarse outer leaves removed, trimmed
- knob of unsalted butter
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- 2 shallots finely chopped
- 150 g 5½oz spelt
- 50 ml 2fl oz dry vermouth
- 300 ml ½ pint chicken stock, plus more if needed
- 50 g 1¾oz frozen peas
- 100 g 3½oz cooked chicken, torn into pieces
- 3 tbsp crème fraîche or double cream
- leaves from a couple of sprigs of tarragon optional
- ¼ tbsp finely chopped parsley leaves or a bit more if you don’t have any tarragon
- grated Parmesan or pecorino to serve
Instructies
- Cut the leeks into rings about 5cm (2in) thick and wash really well.
- Drain.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a saucepan, add the leeks and shallots and cook over a medium heat for about four minutes.
- Tip in the spelt and stir it round so that it gets coated in all the cooking juices.
- Add the vermouth and let it simmer away until you only have a few spoonfuls left.
- Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock and leave it simmering on a low heat.
- Add this to the risotto in ladelfuls, only adding new stuff when the previous lot has been absorbed.
- You need to keep adding stock and stirring (not constantly, but fairly frequently) until all the stock is used up and the spelt is tender (there will still be a little ‘bite’ in the centre of each grain).
- Add more stock or boiling water if you run out of liquid.
- It will take about 25 minutes for the spelt to become tender.
- Stir in the frozen peas five minutes before the end of cooking time.
- Add the chicken and crème fraîche and cook until it has heated right through.
- Add the herbs, cook for another minute, check the seasoning, then serve with the grated Parmesan or pecorino.
