Bloke's Cookbook - Sweet Potato Risotto

Although we think of pasta as Italian, one of my cookery books claims that two generations ago you probably wouldn't have been able to get pasta in northern Italy. Northern Italy ate risotto and polenta, southern Italy pasta. The country itself is clearly divided along north-south lines, the heavily industrialised north paying for the (frankly) corrupt, poor rural south.
Pasta has taken over from polenta, though, and I can quite see why. Polenta is cornmeal, that has to be very slowly cooked over a period of about 45 minutes, whereas pasta is much faster and requires far less dicking around.

Risotto, though, is well worth the effort. It's made with Arborio rice, which, in contrast to long-grained rices such as basmati, is rounder. When heated slowly it produces a starch which binds the food together.

You can put almost anything in a risotto, which makes it a very versatile food. One of the best recipes I have is just rice, onion, butter, cheese and saffron. Don't be afraid to experiment with this one. With practice you'll find what works and what doesn't.

With practice, you can produce a risotto in around 35 minutes, including all the cooking and chopping. It's incredibly filling, great for a cold day and it's even - at a push - edible cold the day after. There's not too much washing up, either.

You will need:

1 Large saucepan - I use a wok since the heat is distributed far better and the end result is superior, but a saucepan is adequate.

1 knob butter (around 2" by 1");
1 onion;
2 cloves garlic;
1/2 large sweet potato (large means the size of a pint glass);
1 mug arborio rice per person;
2 stock cubes (vegetable or chicken for this recipe) in a jug, and boiling water;
Parmesan cheese (around 100g), grated or peeled into strips with a potato peeler.

Firstly, peel the sweet potato. Then cut it into bite-sized chunks. Chop the onion. Then slice the garlic very finely.

Take the butter, place it in the saucepan. Turn the heat on the hob, and let the butter melt. Don't let it get too hot, since if it does this is separates, and that's a bugger for this recipe.
Once the butter's melted, add the onion and fry gently until the onion starts to turn transparent. At this point, you should use your stock cubes and boiling water to make your stock - you'll need around a pint. If you've actually got proper stock, then good on you, but there's nothing wrong with cubes.
With the onion turning transparent, it's time to add the rice. Pour it into the mix and stir it up. Make sure the rice is well coated with the sizzling butter, but don't let it burn since this will ruin the flavour.

Once the rice is coated with butter, add a splash - and no more - of stock. Stir the rice into the stock and keep stirring until almost all of the stock has evaporated. Add the sweet potato now, stir it in, and add more stock.

From now on, you need to just keep adding a dash of your stock and stirring it. Keep the whole of the risotto moving in the pan - let it settle and it may burn. Keep working it round for 15-20 minutes. The rice needs to keep absorbing the stock, since this is partly what gives the risotto its rich flavour.

At the end of this, take a grain of rice and taste it. The outside of the rice needs to glisten and be soft, and the interior should still be al dente - firm in the middle when you bite into it. If it's chalky, hard or dry, you need to cook for longer. With this recipe, you should also check the firmness of the sweet potato. If it's still firm in the middle, it's not cooked properly.

When you've got the rice to the stage described above, add the parmesan cheese and stir it in slowly to let it melt. This will take a few minutes and will help to bind the whole recipe together.

When your rice and your sweet potato are cooked properly, you're ready to eat. You should let it stand for a couple of minutes to allow it to cool, since it'll burn your mouth if you're not careful.

The great thing about a risotto is that you can combine a whole range of different things with it. Don't be afraid to experiment, but don't blame me if you poison yourself.

Drink with: Whatever you want. Wine, beer, babycham - doesn't matter.

Ease of cooking and preparation: 2/5 - Needs constant attention and careful stirring, so you have to pay attention. Very easy to fuck this one up by letting it burn onto the bottom of the pan.

Mess Factor: 4/5 - One saucepan (although it needs to soak to get the cheese off), so it's pretty good.

Leftover value: 3/5 - It's okish as a cold snack but it wouldn't be my first choice. You can, however, reheat it (more stock, slowly warm it up, more cheese) and it'll be quite adequate the next day.