Aubergine and kale risotto-ish.

I’ve said risotto-ish so as not to offend any purists out there. This is a fuss free, cheese free, veg-ful version that I made for the whole family. It’s easily made vegetarian, vegan and it’s dairy free.

Ingredients

Chicken stock (or veg stock if you are making a vegetarian/vegan version)
Risotto rice
Garlic
A big handful of kale
An aubergine, roasted (about 180 fan for 25 minutes)

Firstly, stock. I used chicken stock that I make with the chicken bones after a roast and freeze. This isn’t necessary, you can easily make this veggie or vegan by using vegetable stock)

I then top this up with water/veg stock. Kallo do a low salt one if you are cooking for wee ones like me. It’s difficult to say how much stock you need, but a good pan full is a start! Chop your garlic and put it with your rice.

Basically, you are stirring the stock in to the rice until it absorbs. Then adding more. That’s kind of it…

This process takes a bit of time but it’s not difficult and as long as you check it hasn’t boiled dry, you can get on with stuff as you do it!

So, about ten minutes before the end of cooking the rice will begin to come to life and fluff up a bit. That’s when you add your roasted aubergine and kale. When you roast an aubergine and cool it, you can pretty much peel it like a banana and scoop out the middle.

I chopped my kale up nice and small to make it toddler friendly. The aubergine will kind of disappear as you continue to add liquid. You are just left with the flavour.

I served this with chicken seasoned with paprika and salad. Because there is no cheese it feels a bit lighter than your usual risotto. Don’t get me wrong…there is a time and a place for a creamy, cheesy risotto. But I didn’t feel podged after this. And there is bonus veg!

Enjoy.

Faye xx