Risotto!

Risotto is my favorite dish to cook and one of my favorite to eat, it is rich and creamy and if put with something with a bit of crunch there is a perfect mix of soft and crunchy.

Ingredients

• approx 1.1 liters/2 pints stock (chicken, fish or vegetable as whatever you prefer)
• 1 knob of butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 400g/14oz risotto rice
• 2 wineglasses of dry white wine
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 70g/2½oz butter
• 115g/4oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions


-Heat the stock. In a separate pan heat the olive oil and butter, add the onions and garlic, and fry very slowly for about 15 minutes without coloring. When the vegetables have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat.

-The rice will now begin to lightly fry, so keep stirring it. After a minute it will look slightly translucent. Add the wine and keep stirring — it will smell AMAZING.

-Once the wine has cooked into the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding ladles of stock, stirring and almost massaging the creamy starch out of the rice, allowing each ladle to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15 minutes. Taste the rice (my favorite bit) Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite, as it will keep cooking even when you turn the gas. Don’t forget to check the seasoning carefully. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water.

-Remove from the heat and add the butter and Parmesan. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for a min or two.

 The way I make it (to make it more interesting) is at the beginning I chop up some potatoes and throw them in with the risotto, also steam some green beans when the risotto is finished throw everything together and serve with pesto. It is absolutely delicious.

Happy cooking

Blaze x