Wild Mushroom & Hock Risotto

Wild Mushroom & Ham Hock Risotto

Am adding this post because it is where I used the last of my spoils from the hock I bought recently and also because it was really really good to eat.

I had a litre of thick jellied stock from the hock in the freezer as well as about 150g cooked meat. There was celery in the crisper and a couple of sweet onions in the vegetable rack that needed using soonish if they weren't to sprout. There was Parmesan in the door of the fridge as there almost always is. And butter of course. Rice in the pantry along with a jar of dried porcini. I had myself a deconstructed ready meal.

Wild Mushroom & Ham Hock Risotto

50g dried porcini, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes

250g risotto rice like vialone nano

50 g butter

2 tbspns olive oil

2 sweet onions or shallots, peeled and finely chopped

2 ribs celery, thinly sliced

150g shredded ham

1 litre of ham stock

Celery leaves from the centre of a bunch, finely shredded

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Bring the stock to a simmer in a pan. Drain the mushrooms, adding the soaking water to the simmering stock.

Melt half the butter and the oil in a heavy frypan and gently sweat the onions till they are translucent. Add the celery and stir to coat for a minute, then add the rice and stir thoroughly.

Add a ladle of hot stock to the rice and stir till it is absorbed. Keep adding stock and stirring till you've used about half the liquid. The rice will still be quite chalky.

Stir in the ham and mushrooms along with about half a tablespoon of salt and a good grinding of black pepper. Then continue to add the rest of the stock one ladle at a time, stirring fairly continuously - this is where it's good to have someone else who likes to help to do a little stirring too. The man is a joy at such moments.

The rice is cooked when there is only just the slightest resistance at the very heart of the grain - which should be about the same time as all the stock has been added and absorbed. If it is still a little hard, add some boiling water (NEVER cold) till the rice achieves the right consistency. Turn off the heat.

Stir through the rest of the butter, the grated Parmesan and the shredded celery leaves. Cover the pan with a lid and leave for five minutes before serving in deep bowls.

Now I had myself a perfectly reconstructed meal, taking about half an hour to make and costing about £2 with enough leftover for our lunchbox treat next day.