Lemons, Leeks and apple in a risotto

Quite a while ago on this blog I made a soup with leeks, lemons and apples in the ingredients. Last Sunday I decided to revisit the idea with a twist; I would use the ingredients in a risotto. With thoughts of a challenging week ahead and the icy keyboard sounds of Rush's 1987 album Hold Your Fire playing out around me I diced a white onion and prepared a leek by removing its outer leaves and clearing the dirt clinging to it. I sliced the leek narrowly lengthways and then cut in half the thin slices so as they would cook more easily.

I warmed some olive oil on the hob in my Le Cresceut dish, sprinkled in some white pepper and added the onion and leeks. I then fried them carefully on the hob until the onion became translucent and the leeks began to brown slightly. This process took around 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes I added the unpeeled, cubed flesh of a Cox's apple to the dish and stewed it with the leeks and onion for 10 minutes. I then added the juice from half a lemon, ten ounces of risotto rice and half a pint of white wine. Now came the tricky bit; I stirred the mixture repeatedly on a medium heat until rice became slightly translucent. I needed to stir the mixture continuously because otherwise it would stick to the bottom of the Le Cresceut dish and burn. I then gradually added half a pint of vegetable stock until the rice became bloated and soft.

To add an extra richness to the meal I melted two ounces of Parmesan into the mixture and once the melting was complete it was ready to serve. Like the leek, lemon and apple soup I made, on paper you would think these ingredients would not go together but they certainly did on this occasion to provide a filling and enjoyable risotto.

This risotto certainly tastes better than you'd think.