I'm a risotto addict. I love the cooking of it, and moreso I love the eating of it. I think risotto has earned an unfair reputation that it's a difficult dish, where you have to stir non stop and you end up with a dead arm. Leaving it for a minute or two makes no difference, maybe that's too relaxed for the purists, but hey, the end result is always good. This is a yummy mid week dish, it's so simple and everyone will love it.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
300g of arborio rice (I like the tesco ingredients brand)
2 shallots, finely diced
2 garlic cloves crushed
2 oz butter
Glass of white wine
1 1/2 pints of chicken or veg stock
2 small packs of smoked bacon lardons
Frozen peas (have no idea of weight common sense should prevail here)
A handful of best quality grated Parmesan
freshly grated nutmeg
Method
Use a heavy saucepan. Melt the butter on a low heat and add the shallots and garlic, cook very slowly, for about 10 mins. Turn up heat, add the lardons and fry until lightly browned
Turn the heat to medium and add the rice, stirring continuously for about two minutes, until the rice is totally coated in the buttery wonderfulness.
Add the glass of wine and stir until almost absorbed
Add the hot stock in, one ladle at a time, allowing the stock to be almost totally absorbed before adding the next ladle, stirring (almost) continuously. Repeat this process until all the stock is used.
Add the peas,Parmesan and nutmeg. Season to taste (will prob need no salt what with bacon and Parmesan)
Turn off the heat and cover with lid and allow to stand for 2 minutes. This makes the risotto even creamier. The consistency should be similar to that of creamy porridge, don't be afraid to add some hot water if it seems too thick.
Top with more grated Parmesan
As comfort food goes, this is up there!
That looks lovely Helena, I will certainly be giving that a go during the week. I always have all of those ingredients to hand and there's nothing there that the kids would turn their little noses up at - bonus!
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