Spring on a plate!

SPRING is officially here, despite some bitterly cold days recently.

But let’s focus on the bright sunny days - and all the new seasonal fruit and veg.

My recipe for this month is a celebration of spring and a lighter, brighter way of cooking after the long winter.

It’s called Spring Vegetable Risotto or, as the Italians would say, Primavera Risotto.

It gives you free rein to make a vibrant traditional risotto cooked on the hob. It’s colourful, freshtasting and full of vitamins.

I’ve used my own favourite spring vegetables, just coming into the shops. British asparagus from the Wye Valley makes a sumptuous addition. But I’ve given other suggestions, if you want a change. It’s a dish that makes my heart sing.

Please don’t be put off by the number of ingredients. Each one is worth its place. This is a dish where the finished result is more than the sum of its parts. And if you can forage some wild garlic leaves (see cook’s tips) you’ll have a real showstopper on your plates.

This is probably the longest recipe I’ve written for the magazine. The reason for this is that I want to give you enough explanation to pull off this perfect example of Italian cooking: fresh, light and delicious.

Buon appetito!

Primavera Risotto

MAKE sure you use risotto riceCarnaroli or Arborio - and that you have plenty of stock simmering on the hob. Be aware that different brands of rice will need different cooking times and amounts of stock, so make sure you don’t mix brands in your cooking.

Serves 2 as a main course.

Ingredients:

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Unsalted butter – 40g

Medium red onion- 1 finely chopped.

Spring onions – 2, sliced into half inch pieces.

Garlic clove 1, finely chopped. Wild garlic leaves – small bunch, about 30g. (see Cook’s Tip)

Dry white wine- 50 mls Stock of choice, veg or chicken – between 700mls and 1 litre (I usually find I use about 975g with the Sergio Carnaroli)

Risotto rice – 200g (7oz), Carnaroli, or Arborio.

Courgettes – 130g, chunkily chopped.

Fresh asparagus spears– 250g. Shelled broad beans – 100g frozen beans work very well. (See Cook’s Tip)

Frozen peas – defrosted, 70g

Unsalted butter to finish the dish –a good 1 ½ oz (25g)

Fresh flat leaf parsley and mint -a good handful, chopped.

Parmesan cheese – Parmigiano Reggiano 30 months matured if possible. 50g, finely grated.

Here’s what you do:

Heat the pan and then add the oil and 40g of butter. When the oil is hot and the butter melted add the onion, garlic, spring onions and courgettes. Sauté gently until it is translucent and lightly coloured.

In a separate pan, bring the stock to the boil and then keep on a gentle simmer all through the cooking of the rice.

Prepare the asparagus. Bend each spear until it breaks, then place these thick stems into the simmering stock to give extra flavour to the stock. (These will be binned when the stock is finished.)

Then cut each spear into half, lengthwise. Then cut each piece in 2. Put these delicate pieces to one side.

Add all the rice to the pan with the vegetables in it. Stir the rice well to coat the grains of rice in the oil. Allow to cook for a couple of mins on a medium heat until the rice becomes translucent.

Turn up the heat and pour in the wine. Allow to bubble away, stirring constantly.

Once the wine has been absorbed (you will hear a little sigh!) add the hot stock a ladle at a time. Don’t add more than a ladle at a time or your risotto will not be creamy. Keep stirring.

Continue adding the stock a ladle at a time and allowing each ladle to be absorbed. Add the delicate spears when almost all the stock has been used. Add the wild garlic leaves if using at the same time.

The rice should look and taste creamy. When you drawer a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan you should see a line. The rice should be cooked, but still retain a slight bite (‘al dente’ as the Italians would say.)

This is the key point. The amount of time and stock can vary. It may take about ½ hour and you may run out of stock. You can just use boiling water if this happens. Keep adding and stirring until you have the correct creamy texture for you.

Season with plenty of pepper, taste and add salt if necessary.

Stir in the 25g of butter with the Parmesan and mix well. Stir in most of the herbs leaving a little as a garnish.

Cover and leave for a couple of mins before serving onto warmed plates.

Sprinkle with the reserved parsley and mint.

Serve immediately.

Cook’s Tips:

Wild garlic leaves look like spinach leaves. They have a wonderfully subtle smell and taste of ordinary garlic. They can be foraged from woods and damp places. You will know when you find them because of the all-pervasive, delicate smell of garlic!

I find using frozen broad beans better and easier than using fresh. There’s none of that double podding to be done, only to find there’s only 2 beans in the pod! The beans are harvested at their best and frozen immediately, so you’re getting them probably fresher, unless you grow them yourself.

Try adding different Spring vegetables with the onions e.g. Add the white part of leeks, or celery or Swiss chard or green beans, mangetout or sugar snaps.

Rotary Club of Chipping Sodbury

OUR final tea dance of the ‘season’ takes place on Thursday May 4 at Chipping Sodbury Town Hall, from 2-4pm.

At the March event, 105 guests filled the main hall for two hours of dancing and musical entertainment, and delicious home-made cake served by the ladies of the Inner Wheel Club.

We hope that this event will be just as successful, so come along. We may even throw in a bit of a coronation theme.

On May 12 we will be staging our charity golf day at Chipping Sodbury Golf Club. Entries are still open - contact Ian Joseph on 07788 924945.

During the past month the club has made financial donations to four worthy causes.

We have helped the Chipping Sodbury Rotary Racer team by funding batteries and chargers for their electric powered cars, in preparation for the season ahead.

We have funded a place for a student from Brimsham Green School to participate in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards scheme, an intensive course to develop skills in areas such as presentation, communications and team working.

During the Chipping Sodbury Festival in

June, the club will be the major sponsor for a puppeteer who will be holding sessions for Year 5 pupils from the Ridge School, Saint John’s Mead, Raysfield, Horton and Old Sodbury explaining diversity and tolerance in an entertaining but effective way.

Finally, prompted by a very interesting talk to club members, we made a financial donation to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which undertakes work around the world to care for 23,000 memorials and cemeteries commemorating the 1.7 million casualties of the First and Second World War.

For the first time in some years club members gathered at a business meeting in April to participate in a brainstorming session to review the club's annual programme of activities and to discuss potential adjustments for the next Rotary year under our new club president, Steve Young, who will take office at the beginning of July.

Stuart Fraser

Chipping Sodbury Morning WI

EASTER is now behind us, and we had some nice weather. The King's Coronation is just days away, and to that end we are putting the finishing touches to our red, white and blue Coronation afternoon tea.

There will be sandwiches and savouries aplenty. And, as a WI, cakes of course! Who knows? The famous Victoria sponge may make an appearance.

As this is a special meeting, we will not be at our usual venue but at the local cricket club, to enjoy the view across the pitch.

Unfortunately, we had to rearrange the visit from Marina of Gogglebox fame for later in the year, but I am sure it will be worth waiting a little bit longer for.

Our members still have our monthly meeting, walk and cinema visit as an opportunity to meet up . Our walks are gentle and and should be accessible to all: if you fancy joining us for a walk, chat and coffee contact us for more details.

Apart from this May, we meet on the third Tuesday of the month at 10am in the Masonic Hall, Hatters Lane.

Any ladies would be welcome to join us, to see what we are about. Meetings last for two hours, including tea, coffee and plenty of biscuits; we would love to welcome you.

Please call 07809 534 107 if you would like to find out more.

Sue Bird