Risotto with carrots and goat cheese

Lately I am cooking so divers that I am starting to have difficulties to think of something new. Yesterday was one of those days, so I took my notebook where I keep a list of the recipes that in the last few years I have been testing and I came to this risotto, actually one of our favorites.

The ingredients you need: leek (only the white part, you can keep the green part to make broth, for instance), garlic, carrots in dices, zest of a lemon, white wine, vegetable broth (I use home made, see in earlier posts to read how to make), thyme leaves, risotto, peas, soft goat cheese and rocket salad.

In a pan hit some butter and olive oil and bake the leek about 3 minutes, then add the garlic, carrots, some of the lemon zest and some of the thyme leaves, mix well and add the wine, let it slowly cook for about 10 minutes. After that add the risotto, bake for a couple of minutes and slowly add the broth, spoon by spoon. When the rice is almost done, add the peas and mix well again, let it cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, until you feel that the peas and rice are ready. Give some extra taste with salt and pepper and then add some of the goat cheese, stir all well and warm up a bit. Serve with the rest of the goat cheese, lemon zest, thyme leaves and some rocket salad.

In this recipe I use goat cheese with honey, that gives a sweeter taste and children will love it. You could also use rosemary instead of thyme, check what you have at home. Of course the broth can also be from chicken, but since I wanted a full vegetarian meal I use vegetable broth.