Makes 15-20 balls 1 medium red onion, finely chopped 1 large clove garlic, crushed, 2 tbsp olive oil 25g butter 75g shitake mushrooms, chopped 75g chestnut mushrooms, chopped 150g Arborio risotto rice 150ml white wine ½ pint vegetable stock Finely grated zest of 1 lemon 75g grated Parmigano-Reggiano cheese 1 tbsp crème fraiche 100g dry breadcrumbs 2 eggs, beaten Salt and black pepper Lemon and crème fraîche dip: 150ml crème fraiche 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 handful chopped parsley Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
· Sweat the onion and garlic in olive oil and butter. Add the mushrooms and cook for a minute before adding in the rice. Stir until the rice is translucent, then add the wine · Once the wine has reduced add in the stock, one ladle at a time until the risotto rice is tender. This should take around 20 minutes · Once the rice is cooked, add the lemon zest, 50g grated Parmigano-Reggiano, crème fraiche and season to taste. Leave to cool · Meanwhile, beat together all the ingredients for the garlic lemon crème fraiche dip and season to taste. Cover and refrigerate · Once the risotto is cool, mould it into golf-sized balls with your hands · Mix together the breadcrumbs and 25g grated Parmigano-Reggiano cheese with plenty of black pepper · Dip each ball into beaten egg and then into breadcrumbs before carefully lowering into hot oil to deep frying for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with lemon and crème fraiche dip and plenty more Parmgiano-Reggiano cheese Cook’s tip: These are perfect both hot and cold, so are great to prepare in advance for your summer picnic feasts. Recipe courtesy of the Parmigiano-Reggiano Consortium