Risottos can be varied in so many ways and this is my winter stand-by. Long grain rice will not make a risotto, so you will certainly need aborio or short grain rice. Serve the risotto on top of grilled flat mushrooms for a delicious dinner.

Ingredients

• 100 grams butter
• 2 cups short grain or aborio rice
• 1 cup finely chopped mushrooms
• 3 cups chicken stock (home-made preferably)
• ½ cup dried figlets (baby figs)
• chopped parsley
• 3-4 rashers bacon, chopped and grilled until crispy
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed to a paste
• 1 cup red wine (Pinot Noir is good here)
• 200 grams flat mushrooms, sliced

To garnish

• grated parmesan
• ¼ cup toasted pinenuts

Method

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the onion. Cook over a low-moderate heat for about 10-15 minutes until the onion has softened but not coloured.
2. Add the rice, garlic and mushrooms and stir for about 3 minutes.
3. Add the red wine and continue to stir until the wine has all been absorbed by the rice. Add the stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well each time, adding the next amount of stock only when the rice has absorbed the previous amount. Stirring is essential to achieve the perfect consistency, so make sure you have time to watch over the cooking.
4. It will take about 20-30 minutes (depending on rice variety) to cook. The finished risotto should be creamy and soft in texture.
5. While the rice is cooking pour boiling water over the figlets and leave for 10 minutes. Drain. Add the figlets to the risotto and season well with pepper and salt. Spoon into large open bowls on top of pan-fried flat mushrooms. Garnish with crispy fried bacon, chopped parsley and a sprinkling of pine nuts.
6. Serve grated parmesan to accompany.