Dragon Carrot Risotto (Imitation) from The Fault in Our Stars

I want this dragon carrot risotto to become a person so I can take it to Las Vegas and marry it.

~Augustus Waters (via John Green)

Okay, so I've ALWAYS wanted to try making this recipe - I wanted to know if it is, actually, good enough to marry! (And it really is!!!)

But try as I might, I could never quite manage to get a hold of real Dragon Carrots - they simply do not exist anywhere near me!!!

I've seen a bunch of other recipe which use real Dragon Carrots - this is not one of those recipes.

If you do, however, manage to get a hold of a couple of these rare purple-y beauties, you can simply substitute the 4 normal carrots and 300g diced beetroot for 3 very large Dragon carrots (You probably want to very thinly slice them longways and then cut the slices in half).

If, like me, you have absolutely no chance of ever coming across bona fide dragon carrots in your lifetime - then this is the recipe for you!

Dragon Carrot (Imitation) Risotto

serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil

• 5 large Shallots (Spring Onions) - finely chopped plus extra for garnish)

• 400g Arborio Rice

• ½ cup White Wine

• 6 cups Vegetable Broth

• 1 cup Chicken Broth

• 4 medium Carrots (thinly sliced and quartered)

• 300g diced, cooked Beetroot (I used packaged so I could add some juice for the proper, purple colour)

• ⅓ cup Parmesean (grated)

• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Method

1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and oil over a medium heat. Add in the shallots until softened and fragrant.

2. Add the broths to the pot and bring to a light simmer and then remove from the heat. Add the rice, wine and carrots to the broths, and allow it all to absorb for 10 minutes.

3. Return pot to the heat, and bring to a simmer again, stirring constantly. Reduce heat slightly, and add in the beetroot. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until all of the liquid has disappeared (rice should still be moist and wet - just no excess liquids)

4. Stir in the Parmesean and add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with shallots and thin slices of the diced beetroot (you can salt and lightly fry this for some extra flavour)

5. Enjoy!

As always, if you do make this at home, please let me know how it went in the comments or tag me in any pictures so I can see your own creations.

I'd love to hear any feedback, comments or queries you might have. You can contact me on any of my social media and I'll be sure to get back to you as soon as possible.

Until next time, Okay!

Okay?