Mixed vegetable risotto

Ingredients: serves 4

• 320 g Carnaroli or Arborio rice
• 6 tablespoonfuls extra-virgin olive oil
• 100 g Courgettes
• 100 g Cherry  tomatoes
• 50g Peas 
• 50g Broad beans
• 1 medium-sized carrot
• 1 celery stick
• 40 ml white wine
• 1 litre Vegetable stock
• 4 tablespoonfuls Grated Parmesan cheese
• 20 g Butter
• 2 tablespoonfuls Chopped parsley

Method:

First of all you need to prepare your vegetables: chop the onion, carrot and celery very finely, the tomatoes in quarters and the courgettes in small cubes, shell the broad beans (to do this, cook them for approximately 2 minutes, drain them and gently squeeze them until the bright green beans come out of their skin).

Once you have prepared all your vegetables, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat; when hot, put in the carrot, onion and celery. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes and then add the courgettes, peas, tomatoes and broad beans; keep cooking for a further 6-7 minutes adding, if necessary, one ladleful of stock.

At this point add the rice, mix well and pour the white wine; let the wine evaporate; add enough stock to keep the risotto moist but not covered in the liquid.

From now on you will be stirring your risotto while it absorbs the stock, adding more stock when it begins to be dry. Risotto rice grains release their starch slowly from the surface while they absorb the flavour of your ingredients and they have a very good resistance to cooking which means that they grow in size while keeping a compact core. It is important to keep your risotto moist throughout the cooking process, but never covered in stock, or it will boil.

Keeps stirring and adding stock for about 15-20 minutes or until the rice is cooked to your liking.  Taste occasionally to check.

When the rice is cooked, remove from heat, add the butter, the Parmesan cheese and the parsley, mix well, cover and leave for 2 minutes.

Your risotto is now ready to be served.