Rainy Day Risotto

Yesterday was not a nice summer's day in the slightly north of London area where I currently reside. I wanted something summery in taste, but comforting food for a soggy day. Risotto seemed like a good option, I had a few veggies knocking around, onions, carrots and celery that needed eating up, but needed something to give it a bit of a pick me up. After juicing all those lemons for the lemon and saffron chicken I ended up with 5 lemons worth of zest to use up- what goes well with lemon I thought- Peas! Broad Beans! Both of which I had handily in the freezer, which helped with another task of using up the freezer in order to defrost it. I know some people dismiss the frozen broad bean, in salads I would definitely agree, but baby broad beans that have been frozen are a life saver and delicious so there we have it.

Risotto:

Serves 4

1 Onion very finely chopped
2 Carrots very finely diced
3 Stalks of celery, peeled and finely diced
About 270g risotto rice, I don't tend to measure this out just shake it into my pan.
pan of stock- about 1 litre - better to have too much stock than too little, I used Boullion powder for ease
A cereal bowlful of peas and broad beans
Lemon zest- about 1 lemons worth
Parmesan
Olive Oil
Pea Shoots to serve
(added naughty extra- créme fraîche for delicious extra creamy risotto)

In a large frying pan with deep sides heat the olive oil and add in the onion, carrot and celery, sweat off until just starting to soften, then add all the rice and mix well. You want the rice to get coated in the oil and start to go glossy.
Meanwhile make your stock and have it on the hob, on the heat for the entire time you are cooking your risotto.
Add your stock ladle by ladle stirring as much as you can be bothered to- I know you should constantly stir to make the best risotto but I always get distracted by something. About halfway through add the peas and broad beans to the stock and make sure you bring it back to the boil, continuing to add the stock slowly until the rice is cooked and everything looks lovely and creamy.
Add in the lemon zest and a good grating of parmesan. Taste and season.
Stir in the créme fraîche if using taste again and add more seasoning if necessary.
Spoon into bowls and top with with the pea shoots.

Pour a glass of white wine and enjoy!