Roast Balsamic Red Onion Risotto

The other day we had called friends around for Sunday lunch - and we had a SHOCKER... people didn't end up coming as they couldn't get on to people to get the address, people left early, the boys convinced me to cook the lamb on the Webber (BBQ) instead of the oven and it didn't work. SHOCKER!

I had made so much food and by the time it was ready to eat - our group of 15 had turned into 5 ... Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk.

I did, however, have a whole lot of left overs that I needed to reinvent throughout the week for week night dinners (as I don't ever believe in just binning food). I had made caramelised balsamic red onions for lunch ... what could I do with these?

The long, slow cooking of the red onions and balsamic vinegar had given the onions a lovely sweet, concentrated caramel consistency. I also had some lovely roasted pumpkin, which I had cooked in the same dish the day before - so I pulled these two key ingredients out of the fridge and turned it into a beautiful - quick and easy - baked risotto. 

ROAST BALSAMIC RED ONION RISOTTO

6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
900 grams red onions
400 grams pumpkin
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups alborio rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley (including stems)
8 sage leaves
50 grams parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

THIS STEP CAN BE DONE THE DAY BEFORE....
In a baking dish, place the halved red onions and 3cm x 3cm x 3cm pieces of pumpkin. Drizzle with oil and vinegar, season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 160 degrees for 2 hours. Cool.

Into a baking dish place red onions, pumpkin and any liquid which they had been cooked in. Add rice and chicken stock and bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

Remove from the oven and stir through butter, cheese, parsley and shredded sage. Season with extra pepper and serve with crusty bread.