Smoked haddock and leek risotto

by Paul Warburton on 10 September 2010  |  1 comment
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Check out this amazing recipe for smoked haddock and leek risotto - for £1.40 per person!

Welcome to our new Frugal Recipe blog! If you're registered on lovemoney.com, you can follow this blog and find new posts as soon as they are published, via your personal homepage. Never miss a frugal recipe again - register now.

Smoked haddock and leek risotto (Serves 4)

This recipe is in honour of lovemoney.com’s esteemed mortgage sales manager, Tim Wilson. Tim is Welsh (hence the leek angle) and his favourite dish is risotto. This is for you Tim. Do try and add a glass of white wine if you have one around. I know that's not strictly frugal, but it really does wonders for the risotto. Happy stirring.  

Ingredients

• 400g of smoked haddock (£3.51)
• 1 lemon (25p)
• 400g of leeks (88p)
• 1 pack (500g) of Tesco Arborio rice (99p)

The cupboard staples…

Salt, black pepper, olive oil, butter and 2 chicken stock cubes (and a glass of white wine to make extra special)

Total cost

If you already have the cupboard staples, then according to mysupermarket.co.uk, this trolley was cheapest at Tesco where it came to £5.63 - that's £1.40 per head!

Instructions

• Start by poaching the haddock in a shallow pan of simmering water (not salted) for 1 minute. Then turn off the heat and cover with a tight lid and leave for about 6 minutes. This cooks the haddock perfectly.
• Now add a good glug of olive oil and three teaspoons of butter to a thick bottomed pan, when the butter is starting to froth add the leeks (finely chopped). Soften the leeks down. This will take around 7 minutes on a low to medium heat – we want to get the sweetness out of the leeks.
• Once the leeks have softened down, add 350g of the risotto rice and really get all of the grains of rice coated with the oil, butter and leeks and turn up to a medium to high heat. Now gradually pour in the white wine if you have it and keep stirring! This will create a lovely creamy consistency. Once all the wine has been absorbed into the rice start gradually adding some hot chicken stock. I would make up about 2 pints of chicken stock. The risotto will probably take all of the stock. A good risotto is all about adding a little stock at a time, letting the stock absorb into the rice and keeping that stirring going. The risotto is ready when you have a good creamy consistency and the grains retain a hint of firmness.
• Finally flake in the haddock, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and season with a few twists of black pepper. You also have half a lemon left, so cut into wedges and serve with the risotto.
• Happy eating!

A bit about the Frugal Recipes chef, Paul Warburton

Paul Warburton, a lovemoney.com staff member, had a hectic career in the world of hot kitchens and screaming chefs before joining the lovemoney.com products development team.

During these years, under the tutorage of some great chefs, he honed his skills in cooking for numbers within a tight cost and portion-controlled environment.

Now he's planning to regularly offer his help to all budding chefs in the lovemoney.com community, so you can enjoy his original, low-cost recipes with your family and friends every Friday for free!

What lovemoney.com readers have said about Paul's other recipes

"We enjoyed this recipe very much: easy to make and even easier to eat!" varneyrob

“Thanks Paul, another great tasting easy recipe. It was my first risotto attempt ever and it was great, I even impressed my in-laws with it. Many thanks...” welshlady

"I made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious! Seriously good! Five of us feasted on it, and feasted well..." Ibeshy

"I made this recipe on Saturday night, and my 13 year-old son promptly requested it again for the following night!" Malcolm Wheatley

"This is a cracking risotto recipe. Just had it for lunch & it's a winner. More recipes please. Thanks." SavvyLass

"Another delicious offering from Paul. Thank you - keep 'em coming!" Palefire

Please add your own comments using the comments box below!

If you like this recipe, why not also try Paul's other Frugal Recipes:  

Prawn and chilli linguine | Homemade Cornish pasties | Teriyaki chicken legs with coriander and lime noodles | Turkey, mozzarella and sage meatballs with fettuccine and tomato sauce | Lemon and garlic roasted lamb breast, boulangere potatoes and minted peas | Posh macaroni cheese with crispy bacon and oven dried tomatoes | Falafel, roast pepper and feta salad with chilli tomato salsa | Chicken ‘oven baked’ with cream, mushrooms and thyme | Slow roasted pork shoulder ‘Chinese style’ with pak choi | Chilli steak burgers, paprika wedges and homemade coleslaw |Broad bean, halloumi and mint farfalle | My chicken curry, basmati rice and coriander yoghurt | Barbecued whole mackerel and a spicy lime salsa | Moussaka | Pan fried trout fillets with a dill potato salad | Chicken braised with cider and red cabbage (and proper baked potatoes) | Lincolnshire sausages with red onion gravy and thyme and Gouda polenta | Beef enchiladas with a lime sour cream | Slow roasted duck legs and charlotte potatoes with a carrot and cumin salad | Paella | Asparagus and gruyere tart with new potatoes | Haddock fishcakes with radish and watercress salad and lemon crème fraiche dressing | Prawn and pea risotto Honey roasted gammon and apples with champ | Hot chocolate fondants with crème Chantilly | Shin of beef, kidney and ale pie Tandoori chicken with coconut rice & mint raita | Homemade gnocchi with a tomato & thyme sauce, spinach and ricotta  | Frugal Pancakes | Griddled black pudding, chimichurri mash and caramelised apples  | Mixed bean and coriander green curry with fragrant rice  | Lamb koftas with a feta, mint and chickpea salad & chilli grilled pittas  | Pork, rosemary and white bean ravioli with a chilli tomato sauce  | Sausage & leek casserole with parsley dumpings | Pork, chorizo & cannellini bean stew | Rabbit, bacon & thyme pie | Potato rosti with creamed spinach and poached egg | Pumpkin and sage risotto | Slow braised oxtail with autumn mash | Spiced whole mackerel with chickpea salad | Twice cooked belly pork (with gravy) parsnips and sweet apple red cabbage | Roasted pheasant | Portobello mushroom, port and stilton wellington | Lemon tart with fresh vanilla mascarpone | Massaman curry |  Smoked mackerel pate on crostini and red onion confit  |Rolled breast of lamb with garlic mash and Savoy cabbage | Lemon & rosemary chicken thighs |  Thai Pollock curry with egg noodles | Chunky pea and ham soup| Spaghetti alla carbonara | Pork stroganoff | Green chilli meat balls, sunflower seed couscous salad and mint yoghurt |  Tagliatelle with air dried cured ham and minted peas | Beef, thyme and mushroom loaf with potato dauphinoise | Mixed bean and coriander green curry with fragrant rice | Egg Florentine with smoked cheddar and rocket salad | Beef, mushroom and thyme pie | Spicy tuna, bean and coriander lasagne |  Beef koftas with a feta, spinach and fresh mint salad | Chorizo and pea risotto | Sausage and rosemary hotpot | Beef & thyme (Lancashire) hotpot

Remember, if you're registered on lovemoney.com, you can follow this blog and find new posts as soon as they are published, via your personal homepage. Never miss a frugal recipe again - register now.