Tarragon Cream Risotto

4 from 5 votes

Tarragon Cream Risotto

This creamy and cheesy risotto with tarragon, chives and spinach makes a perfect side dish or appetizer as is or throw in some chopped up chicken to turn it into a full meal.

Prep Time5 mins

Total Time5 mins

Servings: servings

Calories: 228kcal

Ingredients

180 g arborio rice (uncooked) - 180g=1cup
3/4 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup fresh chives (chopped)
1+1/2 Tbsp. fresh tarragon (roughly chopped - divided)
3 cups vegetable broth (I use my homemade IBS/GERD safe broth, recipe here)
60 g fresh baby spinach (uncooked) - 60g=~4 unpacked cups worth of spinach, ~2 packed cups
25 g fresh parmigiano reggiano cheese (grated) - 25g=a heaping 1/3 cup full
3 Tbsp. lowfat lactose free plain yogurt (I use Green Valley Organics brand)
salt (to taste) - amount of salt needed will depend on what vegetable broth you use and what kind of salt you use. I used my homemade vegetable broth and didn't need to add in any salt so the nutritional information below does not include added salt.

Instructions

Heat the vegetable broth in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, just until simmering.
On a different burner, heat the olive oil either in a large saucepan or a large deep skillet over medium heat.
When the oil is heated, add in the chives and 1 Tbsp. of the tarragon and cook, stirring almost constantly, for ~45 seconds.
Add the risotto to the pan and stir to combine everything and coat the risotto with the oil.
Add in 1 cup of the heated vegetable broth and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed (this takes ~5 minutes or less). Note: The more you stir the risotto as it cooks, the creamier it will be in the end.
Repeat step #4 one more time, until you've added in 2 cups worth of the broth to the risotto. When the 2nd cup of broth has almost completely absorbed, check the consistency/doneness of the risotto. Risotto is done when it's softened but still has a little bite to it (you don't want it to be all mush, but don't want to crunch down on uncooked rice either) and also when it cannot absorb any more liquid. At this point, you want it to be just about done but not quite done, since you will continue to cook it with the spinach, cheese and yogurt. You may need to add in another ~1/2 cup of broth or so (in the end, I used 2+1/2 cups of broth).
When the risotto is at this stage (just about done, which for me was after adding 2+1/2 cups of broth), add in the spinach, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and remaining 1/2 Tbsp. of tarragon and stir constantly until the spinach wilts. Then, add in the yogurt, stir to mix everything together and allow to cook for ~2 minutes more, until the risotto has thickened and is nice and creamy (don't worry if it appears a bit runny. It will continue to thicken once removed from the heat).
Remove from heat and let stand for 2-3 minutes to thicken up before serving, then serve immediately.

Notes

I like this as a side dish or as a meal when I throw in some baked chicken (boneless, skinless chicken breasts that were baked with only a sprinkling of salt on them).

For IBS/GERD:

This is a pretty safe dish. There's fat from the cheese and oil, but nothing too bad. As always, keep track of everything else you eat in the day and keep your fat levels in check.

[nutrition-label]*Information above is based on the specific brands/types of ingredients I used (as one example, pink himalayan sea salt is lower sodium than regular salt). Values vary if using any other brands/types of ingredients.*
*The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.*
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Nutrition