The Italians are superb chefs and nobody makes risotto quite as well as they do – understandably so  since they created it in the first place. One of the most unusual risotto recipes has to be this garlic risotto and if you like garlic, you’ll consider it one of the most delicious recipes on earth. The garlic is not too pronounced – because it’s roasted first and then squeezed into the rice, it has a creamy sweetness about it and quite, quite delicious. The lemon zest and the thyme complement the garlic perfectly!  Risotto has to be eaten immediately and it cannot be warmed up because the result is a thick, sticky mass.

Ingredients

• 400 g risotto
• 2 large bulbs of garlic, whole, unpeeled
• 1 litre home made chicken stock
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large lemon, grated zest only
• 400 ml excellent quality dry white wine
• Sea salt to taste
• A handful fresh thyme, leaves picked out, stalks discarded
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 120 g butter
• Extra virgin olive oil as needed
• 200 g freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Extra virgin olive oil

Method

• Preheat oven to 230 degrees C.
• Roast the whole garlic heads in the oven until quite soft – it shouldn’t take more than 30 – 45 minutes.
• Heat the stock until quite hot
• In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan, fry the shallots or onions, the cloves of garlic slowly for about until softened and translucent, remove from the heat and set aside.
• Now add some oil and a little butter to the same pan until frothing and then add the rice and begin to fry – keep on stirring it.
• After about a minute it begins to look a little translucent, add the vermouth or wie and keep stirring it continuously – the alcohol will evaporate and at this point, add the first ladle of hot stock and a generous pinch of salt and good grating of black pepper.
• Separate the roasted garlic cloves and squeeze out the insides into the risotto with the lemon zest.
• Add the thyme to the risotto now and the heat to medium high, still stirring continuously while it simmers – the rice mustn’t cook too quickly and you must continue adding ladles of stock, stirring all the time.
• Just before the rice is al dente, add a generous knob of butter and about half the parmesan, stir gently but consistently.
• Remove from the heat, stir and allow to rest for a minute or two – stir just before you put it on the table and serve with plenty of parmesan and a green salad.