Sorry, boastful as it sounds, but it really is that good. I don’t often exclaim out loud over a meal, but this really was amazing, and I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

I can’t take all the credit - it’s based on a recipe from Nigel Slater’s Appetite, a food book (not quite a recipe book - he’s deliberately non-prescriptive about the way you cook things) which everyone everywhere should own. I just tarted it up a bit , primarily by adding meat and booze, the two essential ingredients of most meals made in my kitchen.

This is not a strictly “authentic” risotto. Italian food purists would likely have a lot to say about its deviation from the norm. But hey, as long as they sit around sulking about it that leaves a second helping for everyone else…

The Boring Bits

• Serves 3-4
• Preparation time: 10 minutes
• Cooking time: approx. 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2oz (40g) butter
• 1 1/2 cups (300g) long-grain or basmati rice
• 25 floz (750 ml) vegetable stock
• 1/2 bottle of medium white wine
• 2 large closed-cap mushrooms
• 1 medium onion
• 2 large mild italian sausages
• 1/2oz grated fresh parmesan 15g
• dried rosemary
• salt & pepper

Throwing it all together

This is pretty easy to do, but it’s not one of those recipes you can put in the oven and leave for half an hour. It requires a bit of attention and a bit of sensitivity to how things are coming along.

First off, chop the onion into small pieces, the sausage into thick slices (about 3/4 inch), and the mushrooms into chunks.

Next, melt about 2/3rds of the butter over a medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Now add the onions and the sausage, and cook for about 3 minutes, turning the sausage so that it browns on the outside, and waiting for the onion to just turn glossy. Add the mushrooms, and cook for another two minutes until the onion is turning transluscent.

Add the rice, and stir well so that it gets a good coating with the butter. Now pour in enough wine and stock - about half and half - to just cover the rice and get it floating. Turn the heat up slightly so that the liquid simmers, and stir frequently to keep the rice moving about.

Now comes the fun part. For the next twenty minutes or so as the rice cooks, you need to keep it topped up with liquid as it begins to dry out. You should see the grains of rice begin to plump up as they absorb the moisture, and the risotto should become heavier and creamier, the liquid around the rice turning almost gravy-like.

About halfway through the cooking time add a handful of rosemary, and (taste to make sure of quantities) a little salt and pepper.

Towards the end of cooking, the rice should become tender but still firm. Keep checking by tasting a few grains. You want a satisfying, solid consistency without any actual crunch.

Once the rice reaches this stage, let the liquid evaporate so that the risotto is nice and moist but not awash in sauce. Now stir in the rest of the butter and the grated parmesan, making sure that it all melts into the rest of the risotto.

You should now have a wonderful creamy mix almost overflowing from your pan. Serve it into slightly warmed bowls and enjoy, preferably in the company of friends who don’t mind you making lewd noises and gesturing wordlessly at your plate for the duration of the dinner.

This article first arrived on the interwebnet on Monday, October 24th, 2005 at 10:51 pm .
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