Return of the Risotto

It was a scorcher of a weekend...you know, the kind of weekend when all you want is a salad and a never ending bowl of ice cream...it was gorgeous, we had all the windows open, the sun was shining bright...the bread rose oh so fast and...I made a risotto for dinner.

That's right...it was hot hot hot and I decided to stand over a hot stove stirring my little heart out.  Those of you who have been reading for yonks will know that I love a good risotto and I am rarely happier than when chopping and stirring one up for myself.  I won't give you the whole tirade again, but for me the perfect risotto is a personal thing.  I can't abide by food snobs telling me that my risotto should be loose and al dente and...even worse...eaten with a fork.  I like it the way I like it (and will rarely order it at a restaurant).  

Right, so...way back before this freakish heat wave attacked us I was busy menu planning in single digit weather and came across a pretty spectacular sounding (and looking) recipe for fennel risotto in my copy of Jamie's Italy.  While fennel isn't technically in season at the moment in those dreary middle days of May it just screamed summer.  A fennel risotto, how perfectly different. 

If you like fennel and risotto this is a sure fire winner.  I made a few adaptions to the recipe...like I couldn't find firm ricotta so used the stuff in the supermarket and substituted chilli flakes for ground dried chillies at the end, but for the most part it was pretty easy to whip up (in the time it takes to slow cook fennel and make a risotto) and even easier to devour.  

Tweet