Spinach Risotto with Leeks and Baked Lemon Salmon
Spinach Risotto with Leeks and Baked Lemon Salmon
Raise your hand if you’ve made homemade risotto before! No? That’s ok if you haven’t but I promise it’s not as difficult as you may think. Risotto makes a delicious, filling dinner that can be customized in a number of ways. I love this spinach risotto recipe with baked lemon salmon because it sounds, looks, and tastes impressive, but it doesn’t require a lot of prep or ingredients.
One I worked up the courage to attempt risotto, it became a staple dinner in my house. And i’ll tell you why.
Let’s bust some myths about risotto:
- Risotto is difficult to make: Actually, it’s not! Once you understand the basic method, it’s really very simple, and it’s hard to mess it up.
- Risotto takes too long to cook for a weeknight: The risotto itself needs about 30-40 minutes to cook. However, the prep time is pretty quick. And most other meals need at least that time in the oven with longer prep time, so it’s actually a good weeknight meal!
- Risotto is too fancy: I think risotto is delicious, but it can be very simple. Plus you can tailor it to the ingredients you have in your fridge or pantry.
I love risotto because:
- It’s a blank canvas that you can get creative with
- It can be made mostly with pantry items and whatever you’ve got in your fridge or freezer that you need to use up (Spinach, frozen peas, mushrooms, butternut squash, bacon, lemon, an open bottle of wine… you get the picture)
- It feels special. It’s not your average weeknight meal so your friends or family will feel the love when you serve them up risotto for dinner. Plus you can make it feel more special by adding a grilled steak or some baked lemon salmon
Are you sold yet? Good! Now let’s talk technique.
How to make spinach risotto
Ingredients matter. Risotto is a simple dish, and it’s quality ingredients that really make it sing. To make risotto you’ll need a special kind of rice called Arborio rice. Don’t be tempted to cut a corner and just use any rice you have in the house as you won’t get the same deliciously creamy result. Most grocery stores carry it, but if not you can buy it online from Amazon or Whole Foods. Also be sure to spring for a quality broth or stock as it will greatly influence the flavor of your dish. I use chicken broth in my recipe, but you can use vegetable broth or even a seafood stock.
Stir, stir, stir! Risotto gets its creamy texture from the starches released in the rice. Normally when you make rice, you don’t stir it when it cooks. This keeps the rice intact. When you make risotto, you do the opposite. You want to constantly agitate the rice so that it releases the starches and helps add to the creamy texture. This means that you need to pay attention to your risotto while it cooks and stir it often. I think this is where risotto gets a bad rap for being “hard to make.” You don’t need to constantly stir it like a bechamel, but you do need to make sure you’re stirring it often. But do be careful: if you stir it constantly, it will cook slowly and may be slightly too thick.
Make sure you’re adding hot liquids. Another key to making risotto is how you add the liquid. Risotto is made by slowly adding boiling broth to the rice a little bit at a time. You’ll need to have a pot of your broth simmering on the stove when you start your risotto. Then you add a cup of simmering broth at a time while stirring the rice occasionally. Once most of that broth is cooked down, you add more and repeat until the rice is a nice al dente. If you aren’t adding hot liquids, it will stop the cooking of the rice. This means your risotto will take longer to cook and you won’t get the end texture you’re looking for.
Add some wine—or don’t! Traditionally risotto is made by first toasting the rice and then deglazing the pan with a small amount of wine. The wine adds a beautiful dryness to the risotto and depth of flavor. However, the wine isn’t essential. You can just replace it with extra broth. If you do go for the wine, make sure it’s a dry wine. I like to use sauvignon blanc (which I also enjoy in a glass with my risotto…).
Feel free to get creative. I always have extra spinach around and it’s an easy way to add veggies to your meal. But if you want to use different vegetables you can! I also use a leek in my risotto recipe, but if you don’t have leeks an onion or shallot is an easy substitute.
How to make the baked lemon salmon
Ok, now that you’re an expert on risotto, the lemon salmon is quick and easy. All you need to do is grease a 9” x 13” baking pan and add the salmon. Then season with kosher salt and pepper and arrange thin slices of butter over the salmon. Add a fresh squeeze of lemon juice and pop it in the oven while you make the risotto. When you’ve got lemon and butter with seafood, that’s really all you need.
A quick word on the salmon, too. I recommend a wild-caught salmon over farm-raised. A lot more grocery stores are offering this as an option these days. I’m not a big fan of wild-caught sock-eye salmon as I think it has a strong taste. But my grocery store carries a wild-caught Alaskan King Salmon that I highly recommend if you can find it.
I can’t wait to hear how your Spinach Risotto with Leeks and Baked Lemon Salmon turns out! Leave your stories in the comments.
Spinach & Leek Risotto with Baked Lemon Salmon
Ingredients
Salmon
- 20 oz salmon I recommend wild-caught Alaskan Salmon
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
- 2-3 tbsp butter
- ½ lemon
Risotto
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 leek, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup arborio rice This is a special kind of rice used to make risotto. Don't be tempted to substitute for another kind of rice!
- ½ cup dry white wine I like sauvignon blanc. You can also substitute for chicken broth
- cups coarsely chopped baby spinach
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese Spring for a good quality cheese
- ½ lemon
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- cracked black pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
Prep the salmon
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with cooking spray.
- Lay the salmon in the baking pan.
- Sprinkle with the kosher salt and cracked black pepper.
- Thinly slice the butter and arrange the slices all over the salmon.
- Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the salmon.
- Set the salmon aside while you prep the ingredients for the risotto.
Make the risotto
- Bring the chicken broth to boil in a medium sauce pan. Reduce to simmer and cover.
- Add 2 tbsp olive oil to a large skillet. Add the leeks and cook until tender and starting to turn translucent.
- Meanwhile, place the salmon in the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Add the garlic to the shallots and cook 1 minute.
- Add the rice and toast 2-3 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with the wine. Cook until the liquid has almost entirely evaporated.
- Add 1 cup of chicken broth, stirring the rice frequently.
- When most of the liquid has evaporated, add another cup of chicken broth and cook, continuing to stir frequently, until the liquid has evaporated. Repeat this process until most of the broth is gone and the rice a nice al dente (should have some tooth-feel and not be mushy).
- Stir in the spinach, and parmesan cheese, mixing until the parmesan is melted.
- Add the juice from the lemon, the lemon zest, cracked black pepper, and the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil. Stir to combine.
- Ladle the risotto onto 4 plates or shallow bowls and top each with ¼ of the salmon.