Vegetable Risotto

Well, I thought I'd try my hand at a risotto the other day. A real one with the right sort of rice and such. It was new to me. It's like an ultimate comfort food. I had to spend a while trying to figure out the rice to liquid ratio. As I was only cooking for one, and there's a lack of measuring equipment here. So I came to a good conclusion. Rice to water ratio is 1:4. So 1 cup of rice, 4 of stock. Anyway. Here goes.

Vegetable Risotto (Serves 2 appetisers, or 1 very hungry person)

Ingredients

1 cup arborio rice, 4 cups vegetable stock, Half an onion sliced, 3 cloves garlic sliced, Handful each of: broccoli, courgette, beans, carrot, pepper (All diced to about the same size), 3 tbsp. oil, Knob of butter, Handful of cheese

Method

1. Heat the oil with the butter, and the onions and garlic, and fry until soft. 2. Add the vegetables [it doesn't matter if it's all at once or not], and fry them till soft. 3. Boil the water and add a stock cube [my favourite it OXO]. 4. Add the rice to the vegetables and mix until coated in oil. 5. Add the stock slowly. Let the water all be absorbed before adding more. When the rice is al dente, stop. 6. Take it off the heat and stir in your favourite cheese. A mature cheddar or parmesan work well. Et voila. You have risotto. I was really quite happy with it. A few notes. The stock. Add it half a cup at a time, and always stir it in. Don't worry if there's stock left over. Any vegetables can be used. It'll all taste great. Use a wooden spoon. The rice really does absorb a lot of liquid and expand. One cup is more than enough for one person. Enjoy!