Risotto with Mushrooms

Ah, risotto with mushrooms, how daddy loved this but it was not a dish mama favoured. It didn't have tomato sauce, pasta or chunks of meat! "This is one the Engleses like so I had to learn to make it," said mama, God bless her.

Sometimes Engleses ( i.e. anyone with not a single drop of Italian blood - and dad was one of them) were invited to mama's table. They could then work up to the full Italian feast, starting with this slightly more bland rice dish.

Ingredients

(250 g) 8oz mushrooms
2 bacon rashers
1 small onion
(60g) 2oz butter
(750 ml) 3 cups rice
(2 litres) 8 cups chicken stock
6 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
chopped parsley

Method

Slice your mushrooms, finely chop the bacon and onion. Melt butter in large saucepan and saute bacon and onion with garlic. When onion is golden, add mushrooms and parsley. Cook over a low heat for about two minutes, then discard garlic and add rice. Fry for five minutes, stirring constantly, then add about one cup boiling stock and cook until it is absorbed. Continue cooking and adding more stock a cupful at a time until rice is tender and all liquid is absorbed. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir in the parmesan cheese and leave your risotto over a low heat for a few minutes before serving.

You can add shelled prawns, mussels or thin slivers of chicken meat to the mushrooms.