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Leek, Mushroom And Sausage Risotto
Hunt out some good-quality coarse Italian pork and fennel sausages for this great recipe. If we want a nutrition boost we will often add chunks of pumpkin too.
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Serves
4–6
Dinner
Italian
Gluten Free
Kids
Ingredients
3 tbsp butter, or extra-virgin olive oil
300g/10oz mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 leeks, finely chopped
2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
6 good-quality fennel and pork sausages, deskinned and torn into small chunks
1/4 pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into bite-size chunks (optional)
6 cups hot vegetable stock, or chicken stock
1 tbsp finely chopped thyme leaves
1/4 tsp fennel seeds, coarsely chopped
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus extra to garnish
Method
Heat butter or oil in a deep, heavy-based pot. Add mushrooms and leeks and cook over a medium heat until soft but not brown (8 minutes).
Add rice and stir for a minute or two to lightly toast.
Add wine and allow to evaporate fully, then add sausages, pumpkin, if using, stock, thyme and fennel seeds, season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer gently until rice is creamy and just tender (about 15 minutes).
At this point, test the rice – it should have a tiny white core in the centre of each grain. If the core is bigger, continue cooking another few minutes. It needs to be almost cooked before you add the final ingredients.
If the rice begins to dry out, add another ½ cup of hot stock or water – it should be quite soupy.
Stir in parmesan, adjust seasonings to taste and serve immediately topped with extra parmesan.
