Our kids love to cook and because they’ve cooked it, they eat everything! This is a basic risotto recipe that my daughter loves to make. This image of her when she was 7 cutting onions, cracks me up as she insists on wearing her goggles so that her eyes don't water. Enjoy.  

Serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients

• 1 Liter organic stock, chicken, fish or vegetable as appropriate
• 1 Tbsp.  (15g) of butter
• 2 tablespoons (30g) olive oil
• 1 large onion or 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
• ½ head celery, finely chopped
• 400 g Arborio rice or Vialone Nano (risotto rice)
• 2 wine glasses dry white wine (sauvignon blanc)
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. (15g) of butter
• 90 g (3Tbsp) Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated

Method

Step 1
Heat the stock. In a separate pan, heat the olive oil and butter, add the onions or shallots, garlic and celery, and fry very slowly for about 15 minutes without browning. When the vegetables have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat.

Step 2
The rice will now begin to lightly fry, so keep stirring it. After a minute it will look slightly translucent. Add the dry white wine and keep stirring — it will smell fantastic. Any harsh alcohol flavors will evaporate and leave the rice with a tasty essence.

Step 3
Once the wine has cooked into the rice; add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a simmer so the rice doesn't cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding ladles full of stock (my kids love doing this part), allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15 minutes. Taste the rice — is it cooked? Continue adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. Don't forget to check the seasoning carefully. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water.

Step 4
Remove from the heat and add the butter and Parmesan. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes. This is the most important part of making the perfect risotto, as this is when it becomes outrageously creamy like it should be. Eat it as soon as possible, while the risotto retains its beautiful texture.