Heat your stock in a pan. Keep it simmering gently whilst you cook the rest of the risotto.

Cook your base ingredients. I use a small amount of bacon, an onion and other vegetables such as courgettes and carrots. I cook them in butter.

Add a glass of white wine and let it sizzle away.

Add your rice. If you have lots of veggies too, you won’t need so much carbohydrate (rice).

Cook the rice for a few minutes before you start to add the stock.

Add the stock a ladle full at a time.

Keep stirring. As you stir, you break down the starch of the rice, giving the risotto a rich creamy consistency.

Add more stock. When the liquid is absorbed, it’s time to add another ladle full. Remember to keep stirring. This is the bit that takes time!

After about 15 minutes, you can add any other ingredients that don’t need much cooking, such as prawns. You can also cook things like broad beans (fava beans) in the stock, then fish them out and put them the main pan (if they go in before that’s fine.)

After about 20 minutes, it’ll be getting nearly ready. Give it a try and see if the rice is cooked. It should be ‘al dente’ meaning not soggy but has a little bite.

You are aiming for a relatively thin consistency such that it falls off the spoon when you hold it up. If it is too thick, just add more stock.

When the rice is cooked, turn off the heat. Add a blob of butter and some grated parmesan.

Allow it to rest for a few minutes before mixing it all up and serving.