Sunday 22nd March '09

We ran out of garlic today. I used the last of it last night to make the chicken soup. So, Mum brought inside the bunch of garlic that I grew myself from bulbs that Mr Pelle gave me last year. They’ve been hanging outside to dry for several months now. I actually forgot about them!

They’re a really gorgeous purple colour and are single cloves. So this is two firsts for me – first time using my own homegrown garlic and first time using single clove garlic. The texture is different to that of store-bought garlic. It’s more...crunchy.

It was twenty minutes to three and I decided to quickly make risotto to take to work for dinner tonight.

Prawn & Speck Risotto

1. Heat some olive oil in a pan and add finely chopped onion. Sautee for a few minutes until softened.
   
2. Add some crushed garlic and roughly chopped speck** and fry for several minutes.
   
3. Add some diced roma tomato and several cardamom seeds. Fry for a few minutes.
   
4. Add some Arborio rice and stir around for a minute before adding enough water to cover all the rice.
   
   
5. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about ten minutes with the lid on.
   
6. Add more water as required so the risotto doesn’t dry out.
   
7. A few minutes before the risotto is done, add some prawns.
   
8. When the risotto is ready, throw in a pinch of saffron threads and stir them through.

**You can use bacon instead of speck. Or prosciutto. Perhaps pancetta. Chorizo!

I used frozen prawns so I added them in before the rice so that they would have time to cook.

As I was scooping the risotto into a container to take to work, the aromas were beautiful! Can’t wait to eat it tonight!

Dinner

Absolutely fantastic!