Leek Risotto

Having received leeks in our vegetable box yesterday, we decided on leek risotto this evening. We added some pancetta and sage too, not just leeks. We added some leeks in the beginning to cook down and then saved some to add near the end to give a fresher leek flavour too, which worked very well. The recipe went something like this:

Ingredients… serves 2 generously:

2 large leeks, chopped
100g pancetta, cubed, or lardons
1 stick celery, finely chopped (not essential, but we had one so added it)
6 sage leaves, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely sliced
1-2 tbsps vegetable oil for frying
1 glass white wine or white vermouth
250g risotto rice
1l chicken stock (preferably home made, but bought is of course fine if you don’t have any)
good handful grated parmesan (much better to grate your own from a block than to use pre-grated)

Heat up the oil and when it is hot, add the celery. A minute or so later, add the pancetta and fry for a few minutes. Then add about two thirds of the leeks and the garlic. When the leeks have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat. The rice should fry and go a bit translucent now, but if it starts to burn then turn it down. After a short while, add the wine or vermouth (or a mixture of both as we did) and stir while the alcohol burns off.

Turn the heat back down and when the wine has been absorbed, start adding stock a ladle at a time, stirring until it has been absorbed until it has been absorbed and then adding some more. We used some home made chicken stock for this and it does make quite a difference (all the bones from those roast chickens we’ve been eating have not gone to waste). All this stirring brings out the stickiness from the rice. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, then just start adding water. When the rice is cooked but still has just a little bite left to it, it is done.

However, a few minutes before it is finally done (judging this takes a bit of experience though), add the rest of the chopped leeks. Try to separate the chopped leeks into separate rings before adding, as they’ll cook through more quickly. Keep stirring of course. Then when it is done, stir in the grated parmesan until it is absorbed and check for seasoning.

Kerri commented that this was probably the best risotto that she remembers us having made. We’ve had a couple of really good ones lately; it might be the nice home made chicken stock that we’ve been using for them.