A young man made me food. Not just any food either, my favourite food. I was made the most delicious risotto of my life. To top it all off the man making it has the most excellent face I've ever seen as well. So much win in one go.
I'm pretty sure it was the best risotto. There are a number of factors that could have influenced this though. The four glasses of wine prior, the lack of effort on my part and the incredibly attractive and all around excellent example of a human making. But isn't it the experiences surrounding food that aid in your enjoyment? The atmosphere in which you eat has a hell of a lot of influence on your level of enjoyment and perception of the the food in front of you.
Plus a guy with a tea towel slung over his shoulder ain't a bad sight to see.
I am warning you that the following recipe is very vague in the quantity department.
You could say it was truly made with feeling and I guess knowing I would probably never be able to recreate it exactly the same again is part of the appeal. When was the last time you thought precise measurement and mathematics were sexy?
It's kind of like Tenacious D's song tribute. What I have made he is not the greatest risotto in the wor-orld, no. This is just a tribute. I tested it out on my flatmate Andy, he approved. Those are his hands.
Those out there who get their kicks from precisely measuring are going to hate this. It will force us all to cook with feeling and with instinct. Use your own preferences and judgement on the quantities. Don't be restricted by the words in a recipe (with the exception being baking). If you like a lot of garlic then add a lot of garlic. If you like a bit of heat then choose a hotter chilli.
But needless to say I am very excited to see what Dylan makes me next.
Dylan's Risotto
Serves 2 (because left overs aren't romantic)
A very generous sloshing of olive oil
A brown onion, diced
3ish cloves of garlic, crushed
Fresh thyme leaves plus sprigs to serve
A red chilli, crushed
A stalk of celery, finely diced
A really good sloshing of the white wine that you are drinking and laughing with
Large flat portobello mushrooms, sliced
Small white button mushrooms, sliced
3 handfuls of arborio rice (1 per person and 1 for good luck)
4ish cups of good quality chicken stock, heated
A knob of butter
Grated Parmesan
Feta to sprinkle
Warm the olive oil in a medium sized saucepan and saute the onion, garlic, celery, thyme and chilli until translucent and fragrant. Pour in the Arborio rice and another slosh of oil for luck. Stir around the pot until it looks golden. Pour in the wine and let it absorb always stirring. Throw in the mushrooms, as many as you please, stir these around and let them soften a little. Pour in about half a cup of the stock and stirring the risotto until just absorbed and repeat and stir until your rice is al dente and your risotto still flows. Stir through the knob of butter to make it glossy and flavour up with a few gratings of parmesan. Dylan shallow fried a few sprigs of thyme in some more olive oil to garnish but you can also leave them fresh - it's up to you remember. Serve the risotto with another good grating of parmesan, a sprinkling of feta and a few sprigs of time.
Enjoy x
