I’m a huge fan of a comforting, oozy risotto. Not only does it feel like an indulgent meal, its one which is easy to make extra portions of to have the next day for lunch or dinner. Last week, after defrosting a couple of steaks from the freezer, I thought it might be a nice change to serve them with a bit of a different risotto and this lovely little dish sprang into my mind as I had some light mascarpone left over that needed using.

If you don’t want to use the wine, simply omit, you don’t need to replace it with any extra stock. This will make the risotto 8sp per serving.

One tip I picked up from the lovely Gemma at her cookery classes (You Say Tomato Cooking) is to keep the ends of your parmesan (the rind) so that you can use it as a ‘cheesy teabag’. I love this idea as it means you are using every part of the ingredient and so I’ve added it here to the stock to up the flavour. If you don’t have a rind to hand, don’t worry, simply leave this out but it adds a lovely additional base flavour (when I get to the rind I pop it in a food bag and into the freezer so I’ve always got one to hand now!).

If you don’t fancy using steak you can make this risotto with any meat you like, I’ve included the points for the risotto on its own as well as with the steak so you can adjust it if needs be.

The breadcrumbs add a lovely texture to the dish as well as a hit of flavour at the end. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t include them in the recipe but they really do take the dish to the next level!

Tomato and Mascarpone Risotto with Steak

Serves 4 = 9sp per serving for the risotto, 1sp per serving for the breadcrumbs and 5sp per steak = 15sp in total per serving on all plans

Ingredients

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 tsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

200g arborio rice, dry

125ml white wine

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 vegetable stock cube

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

30g parmesan

30g light mascarpone

1 tsp butter

1 lemon (zest is used in breadcrumbs below, juice of ½ in risotto and the other half of the lemon cut into 4 for serving with the dish)

4 x 225g lean rump steak

For the breadcrumbs

30g panko breadcrumbs

Handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp garlic powder

Method

Take a blender and add the chopped tomatoes, the crumbled stock cube and 400ml boiled water. Blend until smooth and then add to a large sauce pan. Add the other 400ml water, stir and keep the stock mixture simmering as you make the risotto (add the parmesan rind to the stock if using).

Next take a large non stick pan spray with 1kal and fry the onion in the oil until soft and golden (6-7 minutes). Then add the garlic and fry for a few minutes more. Add the Arborio rice and toast for a minute then add the wine, simmering until reduced by half.

Add the tomato puree to the pan, stir fry for a minute and then begin to add the stock a few ladles at a time, stirring and simmering and adding more stock once the previous addition has absorbed in the rice. Keep adding the stock until the rice is cooked to your liking (I like it so it still has a bit of a bite which takes around 25 minutes). You may not use all the stock, it will depend on the heat of your pan so if you have some left over don’t worry.

Ten minutes before the rice is ready, season the steak with salt and pepper and then add to a hot frying pan sprayed with 1kal. Cook the steak to your liking (I cook on a high heat for 3 minutes on each side as I like it medium rare). Remove the steak from the pan and pop onto a chopping board to rest. In the same pan that you cooked the steak, add the breadcrumbs, lemon zest, parsley and garlic powder. Reduce the heat to medium and toast the breadcrumbs until they are a light golden colour. Keep a close eye on the breadcrumbs so they don’t catch and burn. Remove the breadcrumbs from the pan and pop into a bowl until you need them.

Once most of the liquid in the risotto has absorbed and it is cooked to your liking, remove the risotto from the heat and add the parmesan, mascarpone and butter. Stir and then add the juice of half a lemon to the as well as any extra salt and pepper to season.

Slice the steak and get ready to serve.

Add the risotto to a bowl, top with the sliced steak sprinkle across the herby breadcrumbs. Add some crushed chillies if you fancy and serve with a slice of lemon.

Enjoy!