Gluten Free Green Bean & Basil Risotto with a Poached Egg

Friday, September 10, 2010

Green Bean and Basil Risotto with Poached Egg

Inspired by the Waste Not Want Not cookbook & a general need to reduce my carbon footprint & to use less & to reuse more, I've been on a don't-throw-away-anything-reusable kick.
Such was my mood yesterday around lunchtime when I was trying to figure out what to have. Normally, my boyfriend comes home & we have lunch together, but he had a previous engagement & since I was to spend the entire day inside working on an M(F)A project, I didn't want to run out and get anything.
So, after a rummage in my cupboard & fridge, I noticed that I had leftover risotto rice, enough for one person, half an onion, and a handful of green beans that needed using. Naturally, a green bean risotto & basil risotto was what I came up with, topped with Parmesan and a poached egg.


Fancy making it yourself? You'll need:
Risotto rice           Parmesan
Green Beans          Onion
Fresh basil             Garlic
Chicken Stock        Egg
White wine           Salt
Butter                   White pepper

  1. So you want about 450 mL of chicken stock (you won't use all of this) but bring 1/3 of it to the boil and cook the diced green beans until tender.
  2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a wok and brown the diced onion and garlic, once that is starting to brown add the risotto rice and coat in the butter.
  3. Add a few splashes of white wine. I froze the white wine I use for cooking in a clearly-marked ice cube bag and just threw in two cubes of frozen white wine. Stir and allow the rise to absorb the liquid.
  4. Strain the green beans, pouring the stock from the pot back into the remaining stock, just to enhance the flavor of the dish and to reuse without wasting!
  5. Fill the pan the beans were cooking with water and allow it come to a gentle, rolling boil. This is for poaching your egg.
  6. When the water has reached a gentle boil, poach your egg as you normally would, allowing it to cook for exactly two minutes.
  7. Pour a little bit of the chicken stock into the rice and allow it to absorb. Keep doing this until the rice has absorbed all it will absorb. You want to add enough to allow the rice to cook, but don't drown it. This process normally takes 15 to 20 minutes.
  8. Finally, while the rice is absorbing the last dose of stock, (remember, you'll most likely have some stock leftover) add the green beans, salt and pepper and tear your basil leaves, ready to be added once the wok is removed from the heat.
  9. Remove the wok from the heat, sprinkle in your torn basil and Parmesan. Top with the poached egg and serve.

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