Having never even tried a full risotto before (I once had a spoonful of my boyfriends) I was rather looking forward to trying this recipe. Cooking and prep is easy although it takes a while to cook but so worth it, very yummy!

Ingredients – serves 2

• 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
• Chicken Stock
• 1/2 cup Tomato Passata
• 1 Garlic Clove, diced
• 1/2 Onion, diced
• 1 tbsp Fresh Parsley
• 200-250g Pork and Oregano Sausage
• 200g Arborio Rice
• 1 tbsp Parmesan Cheese

Method – takes about 30-40 mins

1. Bring 800ml of water to a gentle simmer in a pot. Once simmering, add the stock pt and 1/2 cup of the passata and stir thoroughly. Leave the stock on the lowest heat to keep it hot during the whole cooking process.
   
2. Peel and final dice the onion and garlic. Chop the parsley and set aside. Remove the skin from the sausage and break the sausage meat up into chunks.
3. Heat 2 tsp of butter and 1 tsp of olive oil in a pan on medium-low heat (if you don’t have butter simply add a little more olive oil). Add the onion and sausage and cook slowly for 5 mins until the onion is soft and the sausage is cooked, then add the garlic and cook for a further 1 minute. (didn’t get a picture of ingredients cooking, far too involved in cooking!)
   
4. Add the risotto rice and fennel seeds and coat in the butter and olive oil. Turn heat to medium, add 1/4 tsp of salt and stir for about 3 minutes.
   
5. If you have some white wine in the kitchen, add 4 tbsp and let it cook for a minute to let the alcohol in the wine bubble off. If you don’t have any wine, don’t worry, simply move on to step 6.
   
6. Add 2/3 cup (about 160ml) of the passata mix to the rice and stir it. Once this has almost soaked in, add another 2/3 of a cup and continue stirring.
   
7. Continue adding the liquid and stirring as above for around 15 to 20 mins, until all but about a tbsp of liquid has gone. When the risotto is almost ready, add the parmesan. The risotto is ready when the rice is cooked through but has the slighted hint of firmness left in the middle.
8. Once the risotto is ready, add the last bit of the liquid to make it slightly runny. Test for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve into warm bowls with a sprinkling of finely chopped parsley and eat immediately.