Creamy Risotto with Peas and Crispy Bacon

OK, for all you pork lovers out there (I know who you are), this is a great dish. Sorry Vegetarians! We had it last night for dinner and D gobbled it up. It's not low fat, but you could omit either the salami/chorizo or the bacon, and just enjoy the risotto. Either way, it's creamy, salty goodness.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

15g/.5 oz knob of butter

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

3 spring onions/green onions, trimmed and sliced

60g/2.5 oz. cured chorizo sausage, coarsely chopped

(I substituted some garlic-flavored hard salami)

200g/7 oz Arborio risotto rice

1 glass dry white wine

500 ml/2 cups chicken stock, heated

1 heaped tbsp mascarpone or cream cheese

40g/1.5 oz grated Parmesan cheese

60g/2.5 oz frozen peas

4 rashers/slices unsmoked back or streaky bacon

1. Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan, add the onion and green onion and cook until softened, about 5-6 mins. Add the chorizo and cook for 2 minutes, then add the risotto rice and cook an additional 2 minutes, making sure all rice is coated in oils.

2. Add the wine and continue to stir until it has been absorbed, then add a ladle of the hot stock. Reduce the heat to simmer. Keep stirring, allowing each ladleful of stock to be absorbed before adding the next.

3. Once all the stock has been absorbed, stir in the mascarpone and Parmesan, then mix in the frozen peas. Remove from the heat and cover for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, grill the bacon until crisp, then place 2 rashers on top of each serving of risotto.

Toad in a Hole

I was planning on using a recipe for Toad in A Hole that I saw in a Gordon Ramsey cookbook, but it turned out that my maternal grandmother, Helen, had her own recipe that she's used before, so I opted to try hers out instead. I added a few sprigs of chopped, fresh rosemary to the batter in my grandmother's recipe to give the dough some extra flavor, and it was great! We ate it with some simple steamed veggies for dinner tonight (carrots, corn & peas or broccoli work best).

Toad in A Hole (serves 4) - total cooking time (includes prep): 1 hour

1 lb/400-500 grams Vienna sausages or Cumberland sausages (6-8 sausages)

1 Tbsp oil

1 cup flour (don't pack down)

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup milk

2 eggs

small sprig of rosemary

Sift flour and salt together in a bowl and add in milk. Beat 2 eggs until frothy and mix into batter. Stir in rosemary. Let batter stand for 30 minutes. Fry the sausages for 5 minutes in the oil. Remove sausages from pan and place in a 9" x 12" baking dish. Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Pour batter over sausages and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F/180C and bake an additional 10-15 minutes longer or until batter is puffy and browned. Serve at once--the sausages will be nestled in holes in the puff pastry.