Good news!

So apart from the fact that I now have a food blog, the other good news is that I have succeeded in making my boyfriend like risotto. He's on what you might call a food discovery. Being brave one night he'd tried a risotto at a restaurant, and after finding it terrible formed the opinion that he didn't like them. But after the first bite of last night's chorizo and mushroom risotto he was a convert. This is very good news as I have become somewhat in love with risottos and find them the perfect comfort food, especially in winter, and I enjoy the therapeutic process of cooking them. I was a little bit worried, partly because I made the recipe up (using the now memorised Jamie Oliver basic risotto) and partly because I'm slightly poor and bought cheap ingredients. But I'm pleased to report that you can make a delicious risotto for £6.38, including the wine. I was rather impressed with my budgeting prowess. 

Here's the recipe if you feel like a cheap and tasty risotto. I made it for two people.


Chorizo and Mushroom Risotto

1 Spanish (red) onion, diced

4 mushrooms, sliced

100g chorizo, cut into strips

1 cup arborio rice

1/2 cup of dry white wine

500ml chicken stock

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

olive oil

knob of butter

1. Heat oil in saucepan on low to medium heat. Add onion, cook until soft but not brown. 

2. In a separate saucepan, bring stock to the boil, then turn down to a simmer. 

3. Add rice to onion, cook for a few minutes until translucent. Pour in wine, stir until it's soaked into the rice. Then add a ladle of stock and keep stirring.

4. Once each ladle of stock is soaked in, add another and continue process until all stock is gone. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked make more stock or just boil a kettle of water and pour a little in a time.  

5. Meanwhile, cook mushrooms and chorizo in a pan over medium heat. The fat from the sausage will provide enough oil to cook the mushrooms in. 

6. Once the risotto, mushrooms and chorizo are all cooked, add the sausage and veg to the rice and stir through with the parmesan and butter. Let the risotto rest for a minute, if it's too stodgy add a little water and stir. 

Eat!