Recipe: Risotto with Yellow Pepper & Green Beans

This is for 'Passionate Palate', along with the NB that the fagiolini for this recipe are runner beans, and not cannelini or borlotti or anything akin to them in shape or size. This is one of my favourite risotto recipes - although this is a statement constantly in danger of getting old, as I seem to come across new and delicious variations for risotto practically on a weekly basis. In this instance, I confess I only ever make this particular risotto in Italy, where the flavour and quality of the pepper and beans ensures the dish is always a success. I can't say the same for London vegetables, and so don't bother trying it there......Oh, and whatever you do, don't succumb to the temptation to substitute red or green pepper if you can't get yellow. The taste of the latter is soft and sweet and subtle, whereas green or red pepper will simply swamp the entire dish!

For four.

Ingredients: a generous handful of Runner Beans; half a large Yellow Pepper; 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil; half a medium sized Onion; 1 pint of Chicken Broth; 1 glass of dry White Wine; 4/3 cup of Carnaroli Rice (1/3 per person); 1 oz Butter; half a cup of grated Parmesan. Salt & Pepper.

Method:

1. Bring the stock to the boil, and then keep at a gentle simmer.

2. Top and tail the Beans, chop into2" lengths, and blanch for a minute or so in a pan of boiling salted water, then drain.

3. Finely dice the Onion, and cook in the Oil over medium-to-high heat until the Onion has softened; meanwhile cut the Pepper into dice slightly smaller than half an inch, and add to the pan once the Onion has collapsed. Cook, stirring, for a few minutes until the Pepper has also softened, then add the blanched Beans, and mix altogether.

4. Add the Rice to the Pan; stir rapidly, and let the Rice take up some of the cooking juices and slightly cook for a minute or two in the heat of the pan before you add any liquid. Then add the White Wine, and stir as the Rice absorbs this liquid. Once it has done so, start to add the simmering stock, a ladleful at a time and continue doing so until the rice has cooked (see the Risotto post under techniques for detailed instruction on making risotto.) Once the Rice is cooked, turn off the heat and add the Butter and grated Parmesan, stirring it in as it melts in the heat of the Rice.

Check and add seasoning before you serve.