Life in the Kitchen Playground is awfully short of play these days. The Ankle Biters are nibbling closer to shoulder height and full of homework, sporting activities and unstructured fun with friends. The Bread Winner is working as hard as ever. Me? I’m Mum’s taxi, working two part time jobs and studying full time. Oh and we’re doing a knock down rebuild of ye old family home. It’s crazy, often stressful but ultimately fulfilling.

More than ever, the thermomix is my saviour. We’re still eating much the same as always, just with a decided lean towards meals that can be produced in no more than 30 minutes from the time we run through the door. Training the Ankle Biters from a young age in the gentle art of cooking and making their own lunches certainly helps too!

Thermomix risotto continues to be a faithful standby. So much so that our usual rounds of flavour combinations were becoming a little dreary. A little rummage through the fridge and freezer earlier this week added the following variation to our repertoire.

Lamb, Spinach and Lemon Risotto.
1 red onion, peeled
3 cloves garlic, peeled
150g lamb, cut into 1cm cubes
20ml olive oil
500g arborio rice
75g lemon juice
1 litre chicken stock
3 handfuls baby spinach
grated parmesan to serve – optional

  1. Grate parmesan if required.
  2. Place quartered onion and garlic cloves in thermomix bowl. Chop for 5 seconds on speed 7.
  3. Add lamb and oil. Cook for 5 minutes at 1oo degrees on reverse speed 1
  4. Add rice and lemon juice. Cook for 2 minutes at 100 degrees on reverse speed 1.
  5. Add chicken stock. Cook for 16 minutes at 100 degrees on reverse speed 1.
  6. Stir through baby spinach. Let sit for a couple of minutes and serve.