Caramelized Carrot Risotto

It's been a while since I posted. Mostly because I'm quite busy writing my master theses and also I didn't really have anything to write about. I didn't try any new recipe's that I was happy enough over to write about it to you.

But now I have a recipe I would like to share. Last summer I ate my first risotto. When my boyfriends parents were over, we did a big family dinner. My parents, brother, his girlfriend, my boyfriends parents and us two joined each other at our house for dinner. Now what is a nice and easy meal for 8 people? My boyfriends mother and I decided to make risotto. Everyone loved it! And since that summerday I have been meaning to make some more risotto.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. We were having our monthly potluck dinner with the neighbors again. And I needed to come up with something new and nice. Since we had some carrots left over and the meal needs to be vegetarian I decided to make a caramelized carrot risotto. It was a hit! Everyone loved it. One thing I might have done wrong this go though was that I used the wrong stock. The stock I used was a little bit overpowering. So next time I will make this dish I will try to use a stock that is not so strong and overpowering in flavor.

Caramelized Carrot Risotto - adapted from Yummy Mummy

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, divided
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
6 medium carrots, peeled and chopped as finely as possible
0.5 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1.2 liter stock (chicken or vegetable)
2 finely chopped onions
300 grams of arborio rice
125 ml of white wine
125 gram of freshly shredded parmesan
2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley, plus a bit for garnish

Method
1. Heat 1 tbsp. oil and 1 tbsp. butter over medium heat and add carrots. Stir until well coated. Add 125 ml of water, 1/2 tsp. salt, and the sugar; cook 5 minutes or until tender. Continue to cook until water evaporates and carrots are just starting to brown. Reserve half of the carrots. In a blender, purée other half with 200 ml of hot water.

2. Bring stock to a simmer and keep at a simmer, covered, over low heat.

3. Heat remaining oil and butter over medium heat in same (unwashed) pot used for carrots. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add rice, stirring with a wooden spoon to coat rice with oil. Add wine and cook, stirring, until wine evaporates. Add carrot purée and cook, stirring, until mixture no longer looks soupy.

4. Add 125 ml of hot stock, stirring often, until rice absorbs most of the liquid. Repeat process, adding 125 ml of stock at a time and stirring often till each addition is absorbed before adding the next, until rice is al dente (about 20 minutes; at least 250 ml stock will remain).

5. Fold in reserved carrots (save 2 tbsp. for garnish),  half of the parmesan and 1 tbsp. parsley. Add up to 250 ml of (75 ml at a time) to loosen the risotto. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Sprinkle each bowl of risotto with some of remaining parmesan, remaining 1 tbsp. parsley, and reserved carrots. Enjoy!