Risotto often scares people, but it needn’t. It really is a simple dish to make and I love nothing more than cosying up with a comforting bowl of it at the end of the week.
You don’t have to worry about constantly stirring the risotto, or strictly adding the stock a ladle at a time. What’s important is that you keep an eye on it, making sure it never gets too dry or sticks to the bottom of the pan. If you need to use more stock than the recipe below, don’t be afraid, it’s always better for it to be slightly wetter.
Here, I’ve opted for a pea and prosciutto combination. Everyone has peas lurking somewhere in the freezer, and they are perfectly paired with the salty and ever-so-slightly nutty flavour of the prosciutto. Plus, both ingredients are in season during these Autumn months, making them readily accessible and even more flavoursome.
If you don’t have prosciutto, you can always use bacon or pancetta. Just roast the rashers in the oven along with the broccoli. In this recipe, I used a dry Pinot Grigio, as the citrus notes worked great with the other flavours in the dish. Don’t forget to pour yourself another glass to sip on whilst cooking too!
I hope you love this as much as I do.
(Serves Two)
Ingredients:
150g risotto rice (Carnaroli or Arborio work best)
50g unsalted butter, diced (separated into two lots of 25g)
500ml of vegetable stock
50g grana padano cheese
½ white onion, finely chopped
125ml of white wine
Large handful of baby spinach
2 tbsp of lemon juice
Pinch of dried mint
2 tbsp of hot water
½ small garlic clove
Large handful of peas (if frozen, ensure they are cooked before adding to the risotto)
2 portions of long stem broccoli
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
4 rashers of prosciutto
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200℃, whilst bringing the vegetable stock to a boil in a saucepan. Leave the stock lightly bubbling on the hob.
Blitz together the spinach, lemon juice, dried mint, garlic and hot water to make a paste. Then leave this to one side.
Melt 25g of the butter in a deep pan over a low heat. Add the onion and soften until it is translucent in colour. Turn up the heat slightly and add the risotto rice. Stir the rice in with the onion, coating all the grains with the butter.
Once hot, add the wine and keep stirring until it has evaporated. Then you are ready to start adding the stock. Add a quarter of the stock and continue stirring. It is important that the risotto is never dry, it’s always better to be slightly wetter.
Once this portion of stock has been absorbed, add the next quarter of stock and repeat until all the stock has been incorporated.
Meanwhile toss the broccoli in a drizzle of oil, salt, pepper and dried chilli. Place on a baking tray and leave to roast in the oven for 10 minutes, or until slightly charred.
After all of the stock has been added and absorbed, taste the risotto to ensure the rice is cooked but still has a little bite. If not, add a little more hot water until it reaches this stage.
Then, add the spinach paste that was made earlier, together with the peas. Stir this through the risotto for 2-3 minutes.
Add the remaining butter and grana padano cheese, stirring through until the risotto is rich and creamy.
Serve the risotto and top with the prosciutto. Feel free to add more seasoning and laden with cheese! Enjoy.