For me a risotto is something I can throw together when I’m busy because once it’s all in the pan it takes care of itself, but this time I wanted a seafood risotto where the seafood stood out instead of being lost.
Even with frozen cod, this tasted fresh and really hit the spot!
This is one of the many recipes I created when I followed the 90 Day Plan by The Body Coach. Simply use your plans ingredient amounts instead of those shown in the recipe. There are 220 Create Your Own (CYO) friendly recipes in my app and on this website.
Ingredients for 1 serving
| 250 g | cod fillet | 76 g | risotto rice | 1 | vegetable stock cube | 400 ml | boiling water | 46 g | onions, chopped | 116 g | mushrooms, sliced | 6 g | olive oil | 75 g | spinach | 74 g | frozen peas | 25 g | reduced fat sour cream | 0.5 | lemon, juice only | salt and pepper |
Method
- Put a frying pan on a medium heat and have another smaller pan ready to cook the cod.
- Add the oil to the pan you wish to cook the risotto in and using a pastry brush dip and brush a little oil into the smaller frying pan – stay with me.
- Going back to your risotto pan, when it has warmed add the onion.
- Take a few minutes to soften the onion being careful not to colour it.
- Add the mushrooms with a sprinkle of salt, this will help release the mushrooms natural juices eliminating the need for more oil, BUT if using dried mushrooms ignore this step and add the mushrooms and liquid at the same time as adding the stock – see notes for more details.
- After a couple of minutes add the rice and stir this into the onions and mushrooms.
- Add the stock cube to the boiling water and add 3/4 of it to the pan.
- Bring the mixture to the boil, then lower the heat to a medium simmer.
- The rice should take around 15-20 minutes to cook aldente but add more water if you feel there’s not enough liquid to cook the rice. Eventually you want the pan to be on the dry side, no one likes a soggy risotto!
- Put the smaller pan onto a medium heat and when warm add your cod pieces. Cook them for a couple of minutes on each side to colour them and when the cod is almost ready to come out of the pan, add a squeeze of lemon juice over the cod and remove the pan from the heat.
- When you feel the rice is almost cooked, stir through the sour cream to add a creamy note to the dish.
- Add the spinach to the pan giving it a stir to incorporate it into the rice then add the frozen peas.
- After a couple of minutes the risotto will be ready to serve.
- Season to taste and serve remembering to top the risotto with your pan fried cod.
Recipe Notes
- For anyone following older BC plans, rice will be included as part of your carbs list, but the swaps page does not distinguish between varieties of rice and the macros for basmati and risotto rice are very similar.
- Feel free to use fresh or frozen cod, but if using frozen follow the manufacturers defrosting guide. I made this recipe using frozen cod.
- For a more intense flavour to the risotto I use dried mushrooms, but I halve the amount I use as a little goes a long way! You will need to rehydrate the mushrooms before use and I would recommend that you reduce the stock amount by 1/4 and use the liquid from the mushrooms.
- I prefer to use low salt stock cubes.
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