Red Wine Risotto with Duck and Chestnut Mushrooms

Red Wine Risotto with Duck and Chestnut Mushrooms – Serves 2

I’ve always been fond of risotto’s, and when I saw this risotto in this months GoodFood magazine, I couldn’t resist giving it a go. I adapted the ingredients slightly to use a base risotto recipe that I’ve used in a previous post (Spinach & Prawn Risotto), but essentially it is the same.

This recipe is a great way to use up some of that extra duck (or any meat for that matter) from Christmas or your Sunday roast!

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• thyme sprig, leaves picked
• 160g risotto rice
• 160ml red wine
• 700ml chicken stock
• 120g shredded duck (or 2 duck legs, shredded)
• 120g mushrooms, thickly sliced
• Parsley, to garnish

Method

Step 1
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and add the onion and carrot, and cook covered on a low heat for around ten minutes.

Step 2
Add 2/3 of the garlic to the pan and fry for a further minute before turning up the heat and adding the thyme and rice. Keep stiring the rice for a round a minute until the rice becomes translucent (almost see through), then add the wine csimmering until almost completely reduced.

Step 3
Now you need to add in your stock, so turn down the heat on the rice and add one ladle at a time, keeping the temperature at a simmer. Wait until the liquid has mainly evaporated, then add in another ladle – make sure that you continue to stir the rice, as this helps the rice absorb the flavour of the stock, and gives it that lovely sticky texture. Continue to add in ladles of hot stock for around 15 minutes, until the rice is almost cooked.

Step 4
Once the rice is cooked, scatter the shredded duck on top of the risotto and leave covered for 5 mins to heat the meat through.

Step 5
In a seperate pan fry the mushrooms with a little garlic and 1 tablespoon of butter, and once cooked, stir into the risotto.

Serving Suggestion
Serve the risotto with chopped parsley as a garnish and with a large glass of red wine!

Albondigas (Spanish Meatballs)

Albondigas (Spanish Meatballs) – Serves 4 as a tapas

Ingredients

• 500g lean minced beef (lamb is a good substitute)
• 1 egg
• 2 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 1/2 small glass of red wine
• Herbs de Provence (or a good selection of mixed herbs)
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 1 garlic clove, finely sliced

Method

Step 1
Mix the mince with the egg and half the onion. Season with 1 stock cube and black pepper.

Step 2
Roll the mixture with your hands into ping pong sized balls and fry in oil until almost cooked (the meatballs can still be slightly pink in middle as they are going to simmer in the sauce). Drain all but 1tbsp oil in the pan, retaining the bit’s of meat that are left in the bottom of the pan. Add the rest of the onions and some garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes – they should turn a beatiful meaty colour.

Step 3
Add the 2 tins of chopped tomatoes and a good sprinkling of mixed herbs (I used Herbs de Provence). Add in the red wine and crumble in the final stock cube, then season again if required.

Step 4
Simmer for 20 minutes so that the sauce thickens – longer if it requires it.

Serving Suggestion
This can be served on it’s own as part of a tapas meal, or you could serve these with spaghetti or some Spanish rice.