Stage 1: Heat the stock. In a separate pan, heat the olive oil and butter, add the onion, garlic and celery, and fry very slowly for about 15 minutes without coloring. When the vegetables have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat. Stage 2: The rice... read recipe
This is like a Waldorf salad! The combo of strong cheese with apples and walnuts just works. If you can get hold of quality gorgonzola, please do - the sweetness of the apples really offsets it. I've used marjoram here, but thyme works just as well. First... read recipe
Even though artichokes are a really everyday ingredient in Italy, in the UK and US they do feel very luxurious. This is a basic risotto bianco with very thinly sliced artichokes added to it, which give it a wonderful perfume. You need small artichokes for... read recipe
This is such a simple, clean and delicious risotto. When buying asparagus, have a look around because there are lots of varieties available now - purple-tipped, white, thin straggly Japanese, wild Spanish and dozens of good English. In this recipe, the stalks... read recipe
This is an absolutely delicious recipe. It's quite unusual, and the best thing about it is that it makes a hero of the much-underloved everyday cauliflower. If you're down at the farmers' market, or at the supermarket, have a look around for a Romanesco cauliflower... read recipe
To me, fennel is a really tasty, classy, and underused vegetable. It works really well with the ricotta in this recipe and has a fantastic sweetness. Please don't buy the crappy ricotta that a lot of the supermarkets have - make sure it's light and crumbly... read recipe
A mushroom risotto can be taken in many different ways, depending on what kind of mushrooms you have and whether they are introduced at the very beginning of cooking or just added at the end, as I'm going to do here. The inspiration for this recipe came when... read recipe
Cotechino or zampone sausage is the big hero in this dish. You should be able to buy these, or order them at least, from any good Italian deli (and if they can't get them for you, then they're not a good Italian deli). They come already cooked in a vacuum-sealed... read recipe
I love this dish - the rice is cooked so simply that the flavors come out beautifully, and then you get these amazing crispy breadcrumbs on top which are a real shake-up of the senses with their crunch against the incredibly soft rice. It's a recipe that... read recipe
The thing about risottos is that you can never have enough combinations, and just when you think you've done them all, you come up with a new one that hits the spot. The use of vodka instead of wine leaves you with a fragrant freshness when the risotto is... read recipe