Sunday Risotto

What to cook on a lazy Sunday evening while waiting for Downtown Abbey to start? Our lovely flatmates had already donated surplus diced carrot, celery and onion... just the thing for risotto! The flavouring for this was also Siciliy-inspired. Again, not entirely like the original version but yummy nonetheless.

Red Wine & Smoked Cheese Risotto  

Apologies if the quantities are a little approximate... it was Sunday night after all :-)

• About 1 1/2 cups finely diced carrot, celery and onion (in equal proportions)
• Olive oil
• Salt & black pepper
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (fresh would be nice if you have it)
• 1-2 cups robust red wine (depending on how much of the bottle you would like to drink yourself...)
• 400g arborio rice
• ~800ml vege stock
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 big or 2 small handfuls of grated smoked cheese*
• Finely chopped parsley, to serve 

*We had a nice smoked cheddar from Devon in the fridge - can't remember what kind we had in Sicily... maybe caciocavallo? Probably any smoked cheese would work though. 

Add vegetables (pre-chopped by lovely flatmates, if you are lucky) into a large saucepan with a good slosh of olive oil, salt, pepper and the bay leaves. Saute until the vegetables are soft.

Pour in the rice, and stir to coat the grains in the oil. Pour in the wine and cook, stirring, until it is mostly absorbed/evaporated.

One glass for the pot, one glass for me... the joys of cooking risotto.

Pour in the stock a little at a time, stirring. Add more stock as the rice absorbs the liquid, until the rice is cooked. You are aiming for creamy rice, that still has a little bite.

I forgot to put the paprika and thyme in at the beginning! Too many glasses? Better late than never...

When the rice is cooked, stir through the smoked cheese, season to taste and serve with a little parsley.

This didn't turn out the same dark, dramatic red like the one we had in Sicily - maybe due to the different wine? Will experiment further and report back...