Serves 4

Nutty, creamy and slightly spicy with popping spelt texture. Yum!

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp crushed chilli flakes – optional
200g spelt grain
1 ltr veggie or chicken stock
1 pumpkin, diced if raw (2 inch pieces if cooked)
1 dsp crème fraiche
Sea salt & black pepper
1 tbsp sage leaves

Method

1. In a heavy based pan, fry the onions and garlic in most of the olive oil. Add chilli and spelt and mix thoroughly. Spelt needs a high heat to open up and absorb the stock.
2. Turn down the heat, add the pumpkin and pour in a ladle of the veggie stock and simmer till all the liquid has evaporated.
3. Continue adding the remaining stock in stages to concentrate the flavour and keep the grain robust. It will take around 45 mins for the spelt to become al dente.
4. Meanwhile heat the remaining olive oil and fry sage till crispy – a few seconds.
5. Stir the crème fraiche through the risotto, transfer to warm plates and serve topped with the crispy sage.

Did you know? The Roman empire was built on spelt. Unlike wheat, its ancient cousin hasn’t been modified. In contrast to a perfectly uniform wheat field, spelt grows at varying levels, producing 1/3 of the yield.

Now you know why your spelt loaf costs so much, and possibly why many of our ever increasing wheat intolerant populace see it as money well spent.