It would seem its sometimes worthwhile looking through your blog drafts. I found this recipe I made in January! I was having various phone issues and couldn’t get my pictures shared properly (I am loving Dropbox now). This recipe is pretty hearty and filling and it is a great one if you’ve been exercising all day. Or you just like lying on the sofa having dreams based around excessive carbohydrate consumption. As you can probably guess from what I blog about I am a little bit “meh” about eating lots of carb based meals but it’s nice once in a while.

Sweet potato risotto is  to all intents and purposes a more healthy way of having a carb fest than most foods. Its filling, delicious and comfortingly stodgy on a cold day. As an added bonus (as I found out when totting up the calories on my fitness pal) it’s not spectacularly calorific. I would definitely say this is one for when you have that friend coming over who has an insatiable appetite (we all have at least one!)

This recipe also has the bonus of having all ingredients easy to find in your local supermarket, you don’t need much cheese and you could easily substitute the cheese for different types of cheese; or bacon, ham or lardons.

For this recipe you will need:

200g risotto rice

A large sweet potato (or 2 smaller ones) peeled and chopped into approx 1cm pieces

About 50g soft goats cheese (or light Philadelphia)

2 shallots/1 onion finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic

Mixed herbs

A glass of white wine (you can substitute this with tart fruit juice)

A bag of fresh spinach or about 5 briquettes of frozen spinach

A small amount or butter or olive oil

A chicken stock cube and hot water

Salt and pepper

Henderson’s relish or Worcester sauce (optional)

(Makes 4 medium portions or 3 larger portions)

Heat the butter or oil in a large non stick pan. Add the onion and crushed garlic and heat gently until soft.

Add the sweet potato and fry until the sweet potato is golden brown in parts.

Add the rice and fry for 30 seconds then add the white wine, water, mixed herbs and the stock cube. Turn the heat down and stir gently until the stock cube has dissolved.

Leave the risotto cook and the rice to absorb the liquid. Stir it occasionally and add more water if the mixture starts looking dry.

Once the rice looks cooked stir in the goats cheese and spinach and heat until the spinach is wilted and the goats cheese has melted into the rice.

Now my parents tend to drink risotto with water as it’s a dish that can make you thirsty, I just enjoy it with a cold drink really. When serving less it’s definitely more, as this is very filling!

As a side note this can stored and reheated the following day. Just make sure the rice is piping hot before eating as lukewarm rice can give you an upset stomach. Don’t keep it any longer than 24 hours (unless you want to keep it in the freezer).