Passing your driving test. Your first shave. Your first kiss. There are certain rights of passage that we all undergo on our journey through life, but none so pivotal as cooking the perfect risotto. Our top tips for the perfect risotto are to add a little butter at step 3, and to make sure you loosen up the risotto at the end with the red pepper sauce and a little more stock if necessary. With any luck this recipe could lead to your second kiss too…
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
1
Vegetable Stock Pot
(Contains Celery, Sulphites)
1
Onion
1
Celery Stick
(Contains Celery)
2
Garlic Clove
1
Risotto Rice
1
Grilled Peppers
½
Goat's Cheese
(Contains Milk)
Bring 800ml of water to a gentle simmer in a pot. Once simmering, add the stock pot and stir until dissolved. Tip: Leave the stock on the lowest heat to keep it hot during the whole cooking process.
Peel and very finely chop your onion into ½cm cubes (or smaller). Slice the celery lengthways into around eight strips then very, very finely chop. Peel and finely chop the garlic.
Heat 2 tsp of butter (if you have it) and 2 tsp of olive oil in a large saucepan on medium-low heat. Tip: If you don’t have butter, substitute a little more olive oil. Add the onion, celery and garlic and slowly stew for 5 mins until soft. Tip: Do not let the onion burn - if it is cooking too fast, add 1 tbsp of water and turn the heat to low.
Add the rice to the pan and stir to coat it in the butter and olive oil. Turn the heat to medium, add ¼ tsp of salt and stir. Tip: After about 3 mins there should be a slight translucency around the edges of the rice.
If you have some white wine in the kitchen, add 4 tbsp now. Tip: Let the alcohol in the wine bubble off for a minute to mellow the flavour. If you don’t have any wine don’t worry - just move to step 6.
Add 150ml of stock to the rice and stir it with long, massaging motions. Once the stock is almost soaked in, add another 150ml of stock and continue stirring. Tip: Risotto does need a bit of attention but the resulting flavour is worth it!
Continue adding the stock and stirring as above for around 20 mins. Meanwhile, drain the peppers and blend to a liquid with ½ cup of stock (if you don’t have a blender, simply drain them, chop up micro-small and mix together with the stock).
Once the risotto is ready, add the red pepper sauce (this will also loosen it up - risotto should not have the consistency of concrete!). Stir in most of your goat’s cheese just before serving and test for seasoning. Crumble a little more goat’s cheese on top and finish off with a drizzle of olive oil. Serve in bowls and enjoy!