Beet Leaf and Swiss Chard Risotto with Blue Cheese

In an endeavor to use all the parts of my vegetables, I saved the beet leaves from some recently roasted beets and thought they would pair nicely with swiss chard and blue cheese in a risotto dish. Et voila! Try not to eat it all.

Ingredients (serves 6-8):

• 2 bunches of beet leaves, stems chopped and leaves sliced (keep separate)
• 1 bunch of swiss chard, stems chopped and leaves sliced (keep separate)
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 6 cups chicken broth, or 6 cups of water and 6 tsp better than bouillon
• 4 tbs unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbs olive oil

Get ready to use a bunch of pots and pans! You’ll need a large pot, a small pot, and a large frying pan to make this recipe. This will also take about 1h30 to cook, so give yourself enough time.

First, melt 2 tbs butter in the large pot. Add the sliced onions, and caramelize to brown over low heat, about 30 minutes. Set aside.

Add another tbs of butter, and cook the chard and beet leaf stems until soft over medium heat, about 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In the small pot, heat your chicken broth to a boil then set to low to keep warm.

In the large pot, add the last tbs of butter, and the sliced shallots. Cook until tender over medium low heat, 3 – 5 minutes. Add the caramelized onions back to this pot and the arborio rice, and toast the rice for about 1 minute stirring constantly, until the edges are translucent and there’s white specks in the middle.

Add the 1/2 cup of white wine and stir until absorbed, about 1 minute. Start adding the chicken broth one ladle at a time, stirring occasionally until almost all absorbed, and then add another ladle.

Continue until you have about two ladle-fulls left, about 20-25 minutes. Heat up the large pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the beat leaves and swiss chard leaves in batches, seasoning with salt and pepper and adding more oil as needed.

With your last ladle of broth, add the stems and leaves to the pot of rice. Stir to combine — your rice should pick up the color from the beet stems and turn a nice light pink. Keep stirring until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice tastes tender.

Turn off the heat, and then add the cheese. Stir to combine. Enjoy!