Lynne was given a generous supply of broad beans
this week and this was the first chance we had to eat them. She has been depodding
them for hours and many have gone into the freezer.
This recipe is Lynne's adaptation one from the
River Café Easy cookbook. We had all
the ingredients in the house, so it was simple to make and really good. The
Fontina cheese is optional but it does add a lovely creamy stickiness to the
risotto. You could make this vegetarian by leaving out the bacon and using a
good vegetable stock. You will need to season
1.5 litres chicken stock - 2 or 3
rashers of streaky bacon - 1 small onion, finely chopped - 1 clove of garlic,
finely chopped - 10 ml olive oil - 10 g butter – 100 ml dry white wine - 250 g
Risotto rice - ½ kilo young broad beans (out of their pods) - 50 g grated
Parmesan - 30 g cubed Fontina cheese - 50 g butter
In a large pot, heat the stock. In another pot,
melt the butter with the olive oil. Cut the bacon into 1 cm strips and add to
the butter; fry gently for a minute or two, then add the onion and the garlic
and fry for another minute until they are transparent and softening, but not
browning. Pour on the white wine and
bring to a rapid boil to reduce it by half and burn off the alcohol. Turn down the
heat, add the rice and coat it well in the remaining sauce. Add two ladlefuls
of the stock and the broad beans. Add more as the rice begins to absorb it. Stir
and continue adding stock and stirring occasionally until the rice is cooked -
takes about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the butter and then both
cheeses. Taste, season if required and serve
