Little M’s Legacy supports Severn Freewheelers (Blood Bikes) and Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research charities. Madison, a colleague’s granddaughter, was just 2 years old when she tragically lost her fight against Leukaemia.

My contribution to Little M’s Legacy was to donate a risotto cooking class and dinner to their charity auction. I hope to also raise awareness; there’s fantastic work being done out there to support present-day treatments, and incredible research to help combat blood cancer in the future.

I want to say a big thank you to the generous couple with the winning bid, I hope you enjoyed your dining experience!

Here’s my recipe for making a beautiful Pea & Mint Risotto for future reference:

 

Ingredients:

(4 people)

• 60g Butter
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 stick Celery, finely diced
• 1 Onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves Garlic, finely diced
• 400g Risotto rice (Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone Nano)
• 1 glass White Wine – optional
• 1.5L Stock (Chicken or Vegetable), hot
• 100g Peas (fresh or frozen)
• Fresh Mint, small bunch, finely sliced
• 100g Parmesan, finely grated, plus extra for garnish
• Salt & Pepper
• Lemon
• Pangrattato (crispy breadcrumbs) – optional
• Pea shoots/micro herbs/rocket – optional

Method:

I’m going to start by stressing that making a good risotto is all about understanding the look, feel and taste as you cook it; recipes are merely guides and risotto is probably the exemplar of that fact.

Generally, you can make a basic white risotto (risotto bianco) and then flavour it in numerous ways towards the end. The quality of your stock will make a big difference to this recipe.

Using the above ingredients list as your guide, start by gently sweating down your ‘Soffritto’ of finely diced onion, celery and garlic over a low heat for a few minutes with 30g of butter and a swig of olive oil. The vegetables want to be softened, but not coloured.

Add the rice and stir it around for a few minutes until all of the grains are nicely coated and starting to turn translucent.

Add the wine, increase the heat to medium and allow it to cook away before adding your first ladle of hot stock.

As each ladleful of stock is absorbed by the rice, add another, stirring as you go to help the grains cook evenly and release their starch.

Notice how the rice moves in the pan when you stir it and the volume increases. After you’ve added about two thirds of your stock (about 20 minutes), taste the rice; you want the rice to still have some bite to it but not be chalky. Your judgement is critical from this point on, so keep tasting a little rice every few minutes and observing how it looks and moves. You may not use all the stock, and if you run out, just add a little hot water.

You don’t want to overcook the peas, so add them and the fresh mint just before the rice is ready. Once you’re happy with the texture, stir in the Parmesan cheese and 30g of butter. Place a lid over the pan, take it off the heat and allow your risotto to rest for a few minutes.

Serve your risotto with your favourite flourishes such as a sprinkle of Pangrattato, shavings of Parmesan, a squeeze of lemon, twists of Black Pepper, a drizzle of Olive Oil, Fresh Pea shoots, Rocket or Micro Herbs etc.

This dish would also work wonderfully adorned with a little crispy bacon or Pancetta.

I know what I’m having for dinner..