Weeeell, it’s still under a month. I haven’t neglected you too badly, darling, have I? No. Good. So. Just a quick one, for I’m a busy boy at the moment. I have a dissertation to hand in three weeks from now, and while it’s nearly finished, it’s also nowhere near shipshape. So I haven’t had much time for cooking, or indeed eating, the last few weeks. However, for your sake, dear public (both of you), I have taken the frankly reckless step of not doing some work, to do some cooking instead. Actually, the work I did do was quite productive. But any, as they say, hoo. The risotto is a basic one, I had it for supper. And probably for lunch tomorrow, too. The tomato sauce, as its name may suggest, all-purpose. Not all, obviously, you’d look pretty silly using it for moisturiser, but for most food-based things a couple of spoonfuls will do a world of good.
Risotto
Ingredients:
1/3 of a pack Risotto Rice (Look, I’m sorry about the measurement. I’m talking a standard, compact-dictionary-ish-sized cardboard box, the standard from any supermarket. Probably. I got mine from Asda. And it must, must be proper Arborio rice, or the other one beginning with C [which i incidentally think is better] or at a push plain old pudding rice. No other will suffice. Canaranoli, it might be called.)
1 medium onion, finely diced.
50g butter (see, I can do measurements. ‘A walnut (with shell) sized lump’ seemed a bit crude)
three field mushrooms (or any damned mushroom you have handy – I just find those big white ones a bit slimy)
1 pint chicken stock (or vegetable if you want to keep it clean – if you’ve got mushroom ketchup or, better, water from soaking dried mushrooms (for the risotto) a good splash into the stock would be lovely)
1 glass/two large glugs white wine (for once, a purpose for the 1.99 tesco cartons! or not. Those mini bottles work well, if they’re fresh. Half for the rice, half for you.)
Any spices or herbs you think appropriate
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
A bit of Parmesan or similar for grating. Optional but recommended.
Method:
Melt half the butter over a low-medium heat and add the diced onion. Let it cook gently, until soft and translucent but not brown at the edges. Add a small glug of oil and the rice, stirring around to coat everything. Add the wine, and stir. Let the liquid cook off, then add some stock, stir, and let it cook off. Rinse and repeat. You want to cook the risotto for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more liquid whenever it runs out. About ten minutes before the end, clear a space in the pan (if you can, add the rest of the butter and the mushrooms. Let the mushrooms fry a bit, then mix everything together and let it finish cooking. Season to taste.
Salad and wine would be good, or you can try the good old-fashioned fork-and-bowl combo that saw me in good stead.
All-Purpose Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
1-2 kg of ripe tomatoes (I got lucky at the supermarket and there were some big bags of too-small-for-Asda, slightly squashy tomatoes. There’s not much flavour in them this time of year, but not to worry, you’ll add plenty.)
1 medium onion, roughly sliced.
3-5 garlic cloves
olive oil
salt and freshly-ground-you-get-the-idea
Method:
Depending on whether or not you can be bothered/really hate them, you can scoop the seeds out of the tomatoes. I do, because I wear a brace and combining the two leads to all manner o’ trouble, but it’s up to you. Anyway, half them and cram as many as you can into a roasting tray, along with the (squashed with the blade of a knife) garlic cloves, a good drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Roast at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the skins are nicely charred and everything smells good.
When they’re done, tip the lot into a saucepan along with any leftover tomatoes. Add a pinch of mixed herbs if you want, as well as another glug of olive oil and some more pepper. Add a teaspoon of paprika, if you have such a thing, or chilli powder, cayenne, whatever. Or not. As you please. If it looks a bit dry, add a little bit of water or stock, but the tomatoes will release a lot of liquid as they cook. Set the whole lot over a medium heat and let it reduce in volume by 1/2 to 2/3rds.
Taste it, and stir it around a bit to see the consistency. You don’t want too much liquid. If you’re happy with the sauce, then blitz it to within an inch of its life, let it cool, and scoop the whole lot into a tub or jar. Keeps in the fridge for, I don’t really know how long. Til you finish it or it creates a new civilisation, whichever is the sooner.
A couple of desertspoonfuls of this work well in most things – bolognese/chilli/curry, as a sauce for pasta, as a soup base for noodles, whatever you might use tomato puree in. A good hit of tomatoeyness. Lovely.
That’s your lot for now. Hopefully I’ll be back sooner than last time.
x
