“This is the perfect warming and nourishing risotto, but is also just as delicious when served cold as a salad. Being made with buckwheat, it gives you more phytochemicals and cell-supporting nutrients than rice. Buckwheat is actually a seed so this dish is perfect for people avoiding grains and is also gluten free. I love making this in a big batch so I have lunch or dinner sorted for the coming days.”

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of roast pumpkin (I used butternut and I left the skin on for extra fibre!)
  • 1/2 cup of raw buckwheat
  • 1 Spanish onion, finely sliced
  • 4 button mushrooms, finely sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
  • 2 (or 3) big handfuls of baby spinach
  • 1 small packet of wild caught, sustainable tuna (I like the Fish4ever brand that you can get from Harris Farm, About Life or other small, independent grocers)
  • Goats cheese (you can choose the amount depending on how much you like it)
  • 1/4 cup of pine nuts
  • Water
  • Rice bran oil

Method

  1. Get your buckwheat cooking! Add the raw buckwheat to a small saucepan with 1 cup of water. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer until all the water has been absorbed and the buckwheat is tender.
  2. While your buckwheat is cooking, heat about a tablespoon of rice bran oil in a medium sized saucepan over low – medium heat.
  3. Add the onion and the garlic and sweat for 2 – 3 minutes (you don’t want them going golden, just softening, to release their sweetness).
  4. Add in the mushrooms and cook for 1 – 2 minutes.
  5. Add the tuna into the mixture (along with the oil – if you use spring water, drain this off) and stir to break up the flesh.
  6. Add the cooked buckwheat, roast pumpkin, rosemary and baby spinach. Stir well so all ingredients are combined. Leave on a low heat until the spinach has started to just wilt.
  7. Crumble in some goats cheese.
  8. Serve and top with pine nuts.