Easy Lemon Risotto Recipe with Grilled Fennel

Here’s a delicious summer dish: my light and healthy lemon risotto recipe with roasted fennel! And it is packed with the most beautiful sunny flavors! I don’t know about you bu I think that this risotto certainly sounds and looks absolutely to die for.

Wouldn’t you agree on that with me?

This lemon risotto recipe consists of absolutely beautiful flavors!

Flavors that I love to bits. Fennel to begin with. I love fennel. It’s funny though, considering that as a child I absolutely hated fennel. Not I just adore it.

Fresh Fennel

This lemon and fennel risotto certainly sounds and looks delicious.

But if you’re not a huge fan of fennel, then you can definitely replace it by other vegetables. The first that pop up into my mind are spring onions, leeks, zucchini, sugar snaps even.

Just any vegetable that goes well with lemon!

You can serve it as a starter or even a vegetarian main course. Do you like risotto as a side dish? Then a nice piece of grilled salmon on the side is the perfect match.

Risotto rice, lemon, fennel and salmon.

Delicious!

Easy Lemon Risotto Recipe with Grilled Fennel

Remember one thing before preparing your risotto.

RIsotto is an elegant Italian classic. Not a watery scoop of overcooked take away rice. Not a dog’s dinner, like that celebrity chef likes to call it.

So keep an eye on your risotto!

Also check the tenderness of the simmering rice regularly to keep it from overcooking. Stir gently or you’ll break the grains and your risotto will end up looking like overcooked porridge.

Some chefs even say that you should definitely not stir a risotto because stirring it releases too much starch and makes the risotto gloopy.

Texture

What’s your opinion?

Do you love fennel recipes?

Then also check out my fennel escabeche with orange!

Or do you need another lemon risotto recipe but minus the fennel? Then you might want to take look at my lemon and eggplant risotto!

Enjoy!

Easy Lemon Risotto Recipe with Grilled Fennel Recipe

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Fennel & Lemon Risotto Recipe

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

1 hr

 

My light and healthy lemon risotto recipe with roasted fennel, beautiful sunny flavors! It certainly sounds and looks delicious.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 2 people

Calories per serving: 639 kcal

Ingredients

• 7 oz risotto rice (200 g)
• 2 medium garlic cloves chopped
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 cups vegetable stock (480 ml), warm
• 1 small fresh fennel
• ½ small fresh lemon chopped finely
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• pepper
• salt

Instructions

1. Rinse the fennel. Then trim the bottom part, remove the green fluffy sprigs on top (keep those for garnish) and chop off the tougher green stems. Slice the fennel in half and slice 2 nice slabs of both sides to bake. Add half of the olive oil to a large pan and place the fennel slices in it.
   
2. Season with pepper and salt. Place the pan over high heat and roast the fennel on both sides until golden.
   
3. Then take the pan off the heat and let the fennel cool. Pour the remaining olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the chopped onion and garlic. Season with pepper and salt.
   
4. Fry the onion and garlic for 3 minutes over medium heat until fragrant. Then pour in the rice.
   
5. Stir well and cook for another 3 minutes. Then pour in some stock.
   
6. Bring the rice to a gentle boil and let the stock reduce. Add the chopped lemon.
   
7. Gradually add extra stock until the rice is nearly tender. Taste the rice regularly. In the meantime chop the green tough stems and the rest of the fennel bulb finely. Add this to the risotto when the rice is almost tender.
   
8. Stir well. Add the butter.
   

9. Stir and then check the seasoning. Add extra pepper or salt to taste. Scoop the risotto onto plates. Place the baked fennel on top and garnish with the green sprigs. Finish with a sprinkle of pepper. Serve hot.