In the kitchen...

On the menu tonight was smoked haddock and dill risotto, a recipe Allison clipped from the BBC’s Olive magazine two years ago. It’s one of our favourite one-pot meals and it’s really simple.

For me, the hardest part was the prep work as this involved finely dicing an onion (or half an onion in this case as I was halving the recipe), which makes my eyes water every time. This was sautéed in butter with some crushed garlic – a combination that smelt divine and to which the rice was added.

To this I added some white wine, making sure that I also poured one for the cook – my little tribute to the late, great Keith Floyd. Not that this is one of his recipes, it’s just something I usually do when a recipe involves wine. That said, sometimes this particular cook has a glass even when wine isn’t in the recipe.

After the wine evaporated, it was a question of slowly adding the stock and continuously stirring – for about a quarter of an hour. 

Once the rice was judged to be cooked – the recipe calls for ‘a slight bite and a creamy consistency’ – I was ready to add the haddock along with some dill, parsley and grated parmesan cheese. At this point the mixture is just left to stand as the heat of the rice cooks the fish.

The result? A risotto dish that’s both delicious and warming, especially on a wet October evening.