Susie Drage
Music, Art & Cookery
The Cookery Book
Fennel and Goat's Cheese Risotto
Fennel and Goat's Cheese Risotto
Serves 4 - 6
Preparation: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
This is a Guest Recipe from Jamie Oliver and I quote as follows.... To me, fennel is a really tasty, classy and under-used vegetable. It works really well with the ricotta in this recipe and has a fantastic sweetness. Please don't buy the crappy ricotta that a lot of the supermarkets have – make sure it's light and crumbly and, if you're out of luck, a fresh goat's cheese is pretty damn good too.!"
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What I love about Jamie Oliver is that so many recipes of his that I have tried are just excellent and he is so very descriptive and passionate about his food!
Ingredients
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½ teaspoon fennel seeds
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extra virgin olive oil
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2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
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2 bulbs fennel, finely sliced, herby tops preserved
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sea sal
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freshly ground black pepper
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300g arborio rice
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200g of soft goats cheese (I use Soignon)
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zest and juice of 1 lemon
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Parmesan cheese, for grating
Method
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Put your fennel seeds into a pestle and mortar and bash up to a powder.
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Get a wide, hot saucepan, add a couple of splashes of olive oil and fry the garlic until softened, then add the bashed fennel seeds and sliced fennel.
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Add a pinch of salt and pepper and turn down to a medium-low heat.
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Place a lid on the pan and cook nice and slowly for around 20 minutes, until the fennel's soft and sweet.
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Start the risotto bianco as usual and continue through the recipe until the rice is half cooked. Half-way through Stage 3, stir in the sautéd fennel, then keep cooking the risotto until the rice is perfectly cooked.
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At Stage 4, when you add the butter and Parmesan, add the crumbled goat's cheese and lemon zest.
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Check the seasoning carefully and balance the flavour with as much lemon juice as you feel it needs to work with the fennel.
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Divide between your plates, sprinkle over your fennel tops and grate over some fresh Parmesan at the table.