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.
