This vegetarian risotto combines three grains; rice, millet and quinoa, which give a balance of crunch and creaminess. But you can also just use Arborio rice or quinoa. This is a recipe all the family can enjoy, simply add a little  salt and more pepper and  a dollop of pesto through the risotto for all the rest of the family.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

small knob of butter

600ml low or no salt vegetable stock

200g pumpkin (or butternut squash if no pumpkin available), peeled, deseeded and chopped into roughly 1 inch cubes

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped into similar sized chunks to the pumpkin

½ an onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 small clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

½ leek, washed and chopped finely

50g frozen petit pois

80g Arborio rice

40g quinoa

20g millet

squeeze of lemon juice

50g Parmesan, grated

small handful of parsley, finely chopped

handful of basil, finely chopped

Method

  1. Heat the vegetable stock in a pan and once it starts simmering, add the sweet potato and pumpkin. Whilst they are cooking, heat the oil and butter in a large heavy bottomed lidded casserole pan and cook the onion for five minutes until it starts to turn translucent. Add the garlic and leek and cook for a further five minutes.
  2. Increase the heat slightly and stir in the rice, quinoa and millet, stir, uncovered, for about 5 mins – this will help to develop the toasty aroma of the rice without burning the vegetables.
  3. Reduce the heat and add the peas. Start adding the stock, leaving the pumpkin and sweet potato in the pan with the stock. Add one ladle at a time, stirring gently but constantly during each addition, letting the rice absorb the liquid.
  4. When the stock has been absorbed, it’s time to add the next ladleful and so on. It will take about 15 mins to reach the final ladle of stock. By this time the pumpkin and sweet potato in the stock should have softened. Mash it up with the remaining stock and stir into the risotto.
  5. Test the rice to see if it is cooked or needs a bit more time stirring over the low heat. Once the grains are cooked, stir through the lemon juice, a little pepper to taste and the chopped basil and parsley. Serve immediately.

Suitable from 6 months

Makes around 8 baby portions or 2 adults and a baby

Not suitable for freezing

Preparation: 30 minutes

Cooking: 30 minutes