ruby tuesday

I saw this recipe for Transilvanian-inspired Spelt Risotto with Beets and Horseradish in the October issue of Saveur (http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Spelt-Risotto-with-Beets-and-Horseradish). It was a warm afternoon and I was perched on one of the benches out front habit coffee in downtown Victoria.  I just finished a long bike ride and was catching the last rays of summer sun while sipping my americano.   Maybe it was the fact that I had just burned a lot of calories, but everything on those pages looked so good! Especially this risotto... I was so inspired! I love beets and I often try making non-rice "risottos," so this recipe was perfect. To top it off, the story of Transilvanian travels that this recipe was written into completely sold me. So, I took it down, resolved to make it on one of the autumn evenings that were just around the corner.

Last night, after a quintessentially November Victoria day, with gale-force winds and layers of clouds visibly passing each other in all sorts of directions and at various speeds, I tried to follow the recipe. I tried. Well, at least I read the recipe. But there were SO many steps... The whole thing seemed just a little too complicated for an impromptu Tuesday-evening meal. And we were hungry. So I took a good look at the photo (hail the internet and good food photography!), took in the colours and the textures. I imagined the smells and the flavours... I skipped some steps, and improvised.  Nothing new here... I tend to do that. Recipes are an inspiration, surely. But reality of what is available, in terms of time, ingredients, and bodily needs, tends to take over in my kitchen.  Thankfully, the results are usually not so bad. And no, I don't claim to have some special touch with food.  Not at all!  Instead, I really believe that good ingredients, lots of love, and a little imagination always yield good results.  

And the results last night were indeed, quite tasty and just as lovely to look at as the Saveur picture. The delicate taste of fennel, the sweetness of the roasted beets, the toothsome crunch of the spelt kernels, make this a delicious and wholesome dish.  And the roasted beets and the red wine combine for a lovely hue that make this a Ruby Tuesday worthy meal! 

Oh yes! While I obviously invite and encourage you to try my recipe (or the Saveur one, which I am sure is absolutely divine though probably much heavier), I will not take offence to modifications. I could not, since that's probably what I would do myself.  And if you do modify and improvise, please share. Write a comment and let me know what you've changed!  And I will do the same.  When I have more time and patience, I will try the Saveur recipe and will let you know how it compares.

Whole Spelt Risotto with Roasted Beets and Fennel

2-3 medium size beets, diced
1 leek, sliced thinly
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 bulb of fennel, sliced thinly, green leafs reserved and chopped
1/2 cup of oyster mushrooms (brown will do as well)
1 cup of spelt kernels
1/2 cup of red wine
3-4 cups of veggie/herb stock
coarse sea salt
2 sprigs fresh rosemary (or 1t dry)
shaved Parmesan (optional)
olive oil

Toss the diced beets in some olive oil, place in a baking pan and roast at 450F for 10-15mins.
In a heavy skillet or pan, heat olive oil, saute the leeks and garlic, with a sprinkling of sea salt (about 3-5minutes).
Add the sliced mushrooms and half the rosemary.  Saute for another 3-5 minutes.
Add the fennel and cook for another couple of minutes.
Now, add the spelt kernels, saute for 1 minute, then add the wine to deglaze the pan.  Stir and when the wine begins to cook down, gradually start adding the broth and letting it cook down, as if you were making risotto;  about 1/2 cup at the time and stirring.  After about 20 minutes, add half of the roasted beets and continue cooking with another 1/2-1 cups of broth.
All together, the cooking should take about 35-40 minutes.  The spelt kernels will become soft and chewy, with some starchy creaminess.
You can season this risotto with more sea salt and a little more rosemary.  Garnish it with some roasted beets, chopped fennel leaves and shaved Parmesan, and/or a sprinkling of olive oil.