Curly Kale Risotto

The season's are changing and I'm beginning to make hearty warm autumnal food. Food that warms you up from the inside. Risotto is one of these dishes. I absolutely love a good risotto with a large glass of red wine. Magnifique!

Now I first learned how to make risotto form Giuseppe. An Italian who knows his food (mind you what Italian doesn't?). He owns this fantastic little gem of a wine bar in Notting Hill called Negozia Classica. It serves all things Italian and is the best place to go for a good glass of wine. You can sit by the fireplace or in the window seat and watch the streets of Notting Hill go by whilst consuming some delicious wine. I highly recommend you give it a visit.

Anyway one year on his wife's birthday (my very good friend Goldy) he showed me how to make mushroom risotto like the Italians do. It was so good, I had never tasted risotto quite like it. It was so creamy and heavenly, every mouthful took me directly to the streets of Rome.

Now this isn't Giuseppe's recipe but I have stuck to his structure.

Ingredients

300 grams Arborio rice.
2-3 shallots, peeled and sliced
200 grams of curly kale (sliced, or buy already sliced)
1 litre of vegetable stock
some olive oil
a knob of butter
some Parmesan
black pepper.
a glass of white wine (optional)

Method

First prepare your curly kale. Wash the kale and heat some butter in a large frying pan, then add the kale and saute it for about 5 mins until it has all wilted. Set aside. Then make your vegetable stock according to the packet instructions. I use Marigolds Swiss Vegetable Bouillon. Its the best vegetable stock out there. I heat a litre of stock on the hob and have it ready for the risotto.

Then in a big pan heat some olive oil and saute the onions until they become translucent (approximately 5-8 minutes), then add the rice. Its very important that the rice becomes covered by the oil. So mix this up really well for a few minutes until you see the rice become slightly translucent. Now if you're using white wine, this is when to add it in. So add the wine and cook until all the wine has been absorbed by the rice.

Now add the vegetable stock, one ladle at a time. Turn the heat down to a simmer and keep adding the stock one ladle at a time and continuously stir the risotto. Its very important that you keep stirring the rice as this is what brings out the creamy starchiness of the rice and why risotto looks creamy. Only add the next ladle once the previous ladle of stock has been absorbed by the rice. Keep adding the stock and stirring the rice for approximately 20-25 minutes until the rice is cooked. The rice should be soft with a slight bite.

Now at around 18 minutes into the stirring add the wilted curly kale, leave a handful aside to garnish the finished product. Keep stirring the rice and if you find that you run out of stock before the rice is cooked then just add some boiling water.

Once the rice is cooked take off the heat, and let it sit for 2 minutes with the lid on before serving. Once on the plate season with some black pepper, some grated Parmesan and garnish with some extra wilted curly kale.

Added extras: If you want to give your risotto a creamy buttery taste, then once you take it off the heat stir in some grated Parmesan and some butter. This is completely personal preference but I guarantee you will love it!!!

Buon appetito.