Hot Smoked Salmon Risotto

We had hot smoked salmon fillets in the freezer that were left over from Christmas, and delicious as they are with a salad, a cold and rainy day calls for something more comforting so risotto it was! 

Such a strong fish as this calls for lemon juice, plenty of lemon juice, but other than that I like to keep the risotto itself quite simple! 

This is my favourite way to cook risotto.  I know it’s not the traditional Italian way, but truth be told I’m quite a lazy cook and the thought of keeping a pan simmering just to add stock bit by bit is a no-no!  I add the stock all at once, in the beginning, and then give the risotto a good old stir from time to time. 

You could, of course, add an egg-yolk and a little cream to finish, but we’re trying to keep the calories down at the moment so I didn’t do that. 

This is what I used for two of us: 

1 small shallot, finely chopped

1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 stick of celery, finely chopped

1 lemon

1 cup of risotto rice

2 cups of vegetable stock

2 smoked salmon fillets

1tb of chopped fresh parsley 

Heat 1tb of olive oil in a pan and add the shallot, garlic and celery and cook for a few minutes, until the vegetables are softened.  

Add the rice and stir around in what little juices there are in the pan.  Add the vegetable stock and stir. 

Pare three strips of rind from the lemon using a potato peeler and add in big pieces to the risotto. 

Cook the risotto, stirring from time to time until the rice is cooked.  Give it a good stir to make it creamy. 

While the risotto is cooking, juice the lemon, chop the parsley and cut the salmon fillets into bite-sized pieces.  Add the salmon to the risotto for the last few minutes of the cooking time, just long enough to heat it through. 

When the risotto is cooked, fish out the strips of lemon rind and add the lemon juice (if you are adding the egg yolk and cream, now is the time to add that too) and then the parsley.  Give everything a good stir to combine and then serve, pronto! 

The sharpness of the lemon contrasts beautifully with the richness of the salmon and made this a lovely comforting, yet refreshing meal.