Winter is all about warming comfort foods so my sister and I came up with this delicious risotto. Risotto has to be one of my all time favourites during this time of year. The secret ingredient for this recipe is in the stock. The better the stock the better the taste of the risotto. You can either use chicken stock which is super tasty, or vegetable stock if you prefer.

Ingredients

1/4 white onion finely chopped

1/2 radicchio chopped into strips

1 cup of rice (arborio or carnaroli)

Home made chicken stock or vegetable stock

100g of pecorino cheese shavings

A generous amount of olive oil

pepper and salt

Optional

Splash of white wine (we cooked it without wine)

Start by placing the onion in a pan on medium heat with the olive oil and sauté until golden, then add the rice and stir until it is well coated. Saute’ for 3-4 minutes taking care not to burn the rice. If you decide to add the wine add it now and let it evaporate beforeadding 2 ladlefuls of stock and stir. Make sure the rice has absorbed the stock before adding more. Add the stock gradually and add the radicchio and keep stirring with a wooden spoon until the rice is cooked.

You do not want to over cook the rice. About 1-2 minutes before the rice is ready add the shaved pecorino cheese and stir until well amalgamated. Make sure the rice is not too dry. At the end when it is ready, allow the rice to rest on the side for 2 minutes to absorb any excess stock then serve. Remember to season it to your liking. How much pepper or salt you add depends on how you like it. Remember that the stock will have salt and the pecorino cheese will be salty. Serve and enjoy!