LEEK & DOLCELATTE RISOTTO

It has been a very long time since I last posted a recipe but gradually I am starting to cook again. My little monkey has now turned two and life is slightly easier albeit she still wants to be carried / held as soon as I start cooking. Thankfully she can now be bribed with TV. My husband and I decided to cook this for lunch today and it was the perfect recipe for such a cold, rainy day. Risotto has always been one of my favourite foods and I am obsessed with blue cheese. This is a recipe from the Waitrose magazine last year and it took around 50 minutes in total to prepare and cook.

Ingredients for 4 people:

4 medium leeks / 3 large leeks
50g butter
350g risotto rice
125ml dry white wine (I left this out)
1.5l fresh vegetable stock, heated (I only had chicken)
100g dolcelatte, cut into cubes
2 handfuls of grated Parmesan (plus extra to serve)

Slice the leeks, both the white and the green bits, into rings. In a large frying pan, fry the green parts in about 15g of butter with a pinch of salt until softened. This took about five minutes. When they are ready, tip into a bowl and cover.

Melt the remaining butter (35g) into the same frying pan and fry the rest of the leeks with a pinch of salt for around 8 minutes, until they are soft. Next stir in the 350g rice for a minute or two until hot and thoroughly coated in the butter. If you are using wine, this is the point where you turn up the heat and tip in 125ml dry white wine. Bubble and stir until the liquid has been absorbed.

Add two ladlefuls of hot stock and cook, stirring constantly, until absorbed. Add another ladleful and repeat. Carry on doing this until the stock is finished and the rice is al dente. This normally takes about 17-20 minutes. 

Stir in the 100g dolcelatte and the two handfuls of Parmesan, season and cover. Leave to stand for 4 minutes. We turned the heat down very very low at this point. 

Serve in bowls, topped with some of the fried leeks, a drizzle of olive oil and a scattering of Parmesan.

This was delicious, very creamy but not too rich as the leeks balance out the cheese. Ours definitely needed seasoning but it all tasted incredible. I loved the combination of the leeks and the blue cheese and I would be tempted to add some lardons next time. Unfortunately there is no way I will be able to persuade the kids to eat this as they are not blue cheese fans, however that just means more for me :-)

BUTTERNUT SQUASH, CHORIZO & ROSEMARY RISOTTO

Risotto has always been one of my favourite recipes, although I rarely have it in a restaurant unless it is a very smart one, as it is easy to get wrong. Before I learnt to cook, my sister would very kindly make me risottos of all different combinations depending on what was in the fridge. My favourite would always be mushroom, bacon and lots of cheese however as my daughter Arabella is mushroom-phobic, we rarely have them. 

Last week I found this recipe in the Sunday Times magazine however it used pumpkin rather than butternut squash. I couldn't find pumpkin in the shops so I substituted it for squash and it worked very well. Risottos are simple but time confusing and this took about 40 minutes.

Ingredients for 4 people:

450g pumpkin or squash, skinned, deseeded and cut into small pieces

1 large onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

50g butter

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

300ml dry white wine

300g risotto rice

200g chorizo, finely chopped

2 tbsp rosemary leaves, finely chopped

1 litre hot stock

100g Parmesan, grated

Chop all the ingredients in preparation and make up the stock.

Bring a large pan of boiling water to the boil, add the pumpkin / squash and cook for around 6 minutes until it begins to soften. I did about 7 minutes. I forgot to cut my pieces so just did it after they were cooked.

In a large non stick frying pan over a medium heat, fry the celery and the onion in the olive oil and half the butter until it begins to soften. This took about 5 minutes. Next add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Turn up the heat, add the rice and stir until it becomes opaque (a couple of minutes). Add the wine and cook for a few minutes until the alcohol evaporates.

Add the chorizo and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the pumpkin / squash and stir in half of the rosemary leaves.

Now for the time consuming part! Add the stock one ladle at a time, stirring constantly to give a creamy texture for about 15 minutes. This is good exercise for your arm! 

Season with salt and pepper, add the remaining rosemary and butter and about half the Parmesan. Cover and rest until creamy - we were all starving so only waited a few minutes! Serve with the remaining Parmesan and tuck in.

The combination of the rosemary, squash and chorizo is powerful but it works very well. It is a perfect meal for this autumnal weather that is starting to appear. My husband, daughter and I all loved this and will be fighting over the leftovers. I am definitely keen to try this again with pumpkin - I reckon around Halloween will be the perfect time when we are trying to decide what to do with all the leftover pumpkin!!