pea and goat’s cheese risotto

method

A classic Italian dish that's hard to beat.

Heat the stock in a saucepan. In a separate pan, heat a knob of the butter, then add the onion, bacon and thyme and fry for about 8 minutes until the onion is soft but not coloured. Add the rice and turn up the heat so it almost fries.

After a minute the rice will look slightly translucent. Add the wine and keep stirring.

Now add a ladle of hot stock and a pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a fairly high simmer. Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring constantly and allowing each ladleful to be absorbed completely before adding the next.

Chuck the peas into the stock when there are a couple of ladlefuls left, and add them with the stock. Stir until the rise is soft but still has a slight bite, then season with salt and pepper.

Remove from the heat and stir in half the goat's cheese, the rest of the butter and the Parmesan. Sprinkle the remaining goat's cheese over the top and eat as soon as possible while it retains its lovely moist texture.

Tip: Leave out the bacon and use vegetable stock if you want to make a vegetarian risotto.

serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock, preferably organic
• 70g butter
• half an onion, finely chopped
• 100g streaky bacon, the best quality you can afford, cut into matchsticks
• a bunch of fresh thyme
• 400g risotto rice
• 150ml white wine
• 200g frozen peas
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 115g crumbly goat's cheese
• 115g freshly grated Parmesan cheese