This lemon risotto is billed by Nigella Lawson as the perfect comfort food recipe for spring.
In fact, not only is the dish, itself, comforting, but the English chef says she finds the cooking process equally as relaxing.
“Although everyone goes on about the finicketiness and crucial fine-tuning involved, I find risotto immensely comforting to make: in times of strain, mindless repetitive activity — in this case, 20 minutes of stirring — can really help,” she writes on her website.
Other “stand by” spring recipes of the chef’s include an Anglo-Asian lamb salad, lemon canary-style pudding, lemon chicken with yogurt sauce and pasta primavera.
READ MORE: Nigella Lawson’s ‘shortcut’ mac and cheese recipe tastes ‘gourmet,’ fans say
Instructions
- Put the shallots and celery into a Magimix and blitz until they are a finely chopped mush.
- Heat half the butter, the oil and the shallot and celery mixture in a wide saucepan, and cook to soften the mixture for about 5 minutes, making sure it doesn’t catch. Mix in the rice, stirring to give it a good coating of oil and butter. Meanwhile, heat the stock in another saucepan and keep it at simmering point.
- Pour a ladleful of the stock into the rice and keep stirring until the stock is absorbed. Then add another ladleful and stir again. Continue doing this until the rice is al dente. You may not need all of the stock, equally, you may need to add hot water from the kettle.
- Mix the lemon zest and the rosemary into the risotto, and in a small bowl beat the egg yolk, lemon juice, parmesan, cream and pepper.
- When the risotto is ready — when the rice is no longer chalky, but still has some bite — take it off the heat and add the bowl of eggy, lemony mixture, and the remaining butter and salt to taste. Serve with more grated parmesan if you wish, check the seasoning and dive in.
This recipe was originally published on Nigella Lawson’s website.