Braised Pig Cheeks with Apple Risotto

This is Autumn on a plate. Succulent, falling apart, pig cheeks with a seasonal apple risotto.

This dish came about through a couple of things. One of those things was a great lunch at the Pony & Trap in Chew Magna. I had pig cheeks with pigeon breast and lentils, never having had pig cheeks before, and after eating them once I was hooked. Slowly cooked these morsels of meat become melt-in-the-mouth tender and have a richer pork taste than most other cuts. They're a bit like the the dark thigh meat on a chicken.

The apple risotto part of the dish was inspired by watching the Hairy Bikers. They put theirs with guinea fowl, which I'm sure tasted amazing, but I was keen on pairing it up with pig cheeks. I don't often put meat with risotto because the texture of vegetables of fish works much better. But when meat is as tender as pig cheeks get after 4 hours in the oven there's no problem.

So, pig cheeks first. You'll need to go to a butcher to get these, and not all butchers will have them in, but a good butcher will get them in for you. You'll want at least 3 per portion and they shouldn't cost any more than 60p each.

Dust them in seasoned flour and fry them on a medium high heat so they get a crispy coating. Remove from the pan and then add finely chopped stock veg. When that's soft, add about a pint of liquid which can be stock or water, or a mix of both with, possibly, a slosh of booze. Calvados would work a treat. Add dried herbs, bay leaf and sage mandatory but anything else you particularly favour could go in. Pop the pig cheeks back in and then put the pan (or pot) into a pre-heated oven set at 140 Celsius. Leave it for 4 hours.

Towards the end of the cooking time of the pig cheeks, make your risotto. A simple white risotto will do. Soften finely chopped onion in butter - how much onion you use will depend on how many you're cooking for. Add your risotto rice when the onion is soft and fry for a couple of minutes before adding a small glass of dry white wine or vermouth. Let this evaporate whilst you stir. You should notice the rice start to release some of its starch.

Then add hot stock (chicken or veg) a ladle or so at a time, and stir this into the rice.

Meanwhile, blanche some peeled and sliced apples in acidulated water. Towards the end of the cooking of the risotto, add the blanched apples. Then add either Parmesan, butter or mascarpone. Philadelphia works as well. But Parmesan or butter would be best to prevent the overall dish from being too sweet.

Then its just a matter of plating up. Put a ladle-full of risotto into each dish, then add your pig cheeks adding a good spoonful of the cooking liquor over each cheek. If you want you could garnish with some further apple slices that have been fried in butter, or maybe some fried sage leaves.

This is nice alternative to Sunday lunch, but one which will still fill the house with wonderful cooking smells, and which will satisfy the most demanding appetites.

Risotto with crab and roast butternut squash

Last week the missus made a cracking soup of roast butternut squash. It was simple to make, just roast a squash, some shallots, garlic and chilli then blend it all together. I haven't tasted many better soups to be honest. So it was a surprise that we had some left over. But we did, and I had my mind set on using it in a risotto with some crab.

Risotto is a favourite dish of mine, and there's already recipes on this blog for others - risotto with braised celery and prawn and broad bean risotto.

The basics are nearly always the same. Soften some finely chopped onion or shallot in some butter or oil, butter gives a creamier taste to the final dish. Then add your risotto rice and stir it around to get it coated in the melted butter. Stir until you see the edges of the rice turn slightly see-through.

At this point you can add a glass of dry white wine or vermouth, but if you don't have any just start with adding the stock. Ideally use a stock which matches the main flavour of what your cooking - fish, meat or veg.

Stir the risotto a lot when you add the first few ladles of stock, as this will make sure the starch releases which makes the risotto creamy.

Towards the end of cooking this particular risotto I added the leftover butternut squash soup, adding a little at a time so that the risotto didn't cool down too much. That done, I then added the back end of a block of grana padano, some creme fraiche and two small tins of dressed crab. I used the dressed crab as it's made with the tastier brown crab meat. I find white crab meat can be a bit 'fine' for a dish like this and the taste just gets lost.

Using the dressed crab is this instance meant that the crab taste was prominent in the final risotto. And it worked really well with the squash. Definitely one of the tastiest combinations for risotto in my opinion.

Risotto with braised celery

The last risotto post I did seems to be popular, so I thought I'd do another. This time, however, I used a proper homemade stock and a good slug of decent wine because I wanted to try and get the best flavour possible.

I started with softening some finely chopped onion in butter. I used half a smallish onion for a risotto for two. After it had softened for a few minutes over a medium-high heat I added the risotto rice - in this instance Arborio. That got turned over for a couple of minutes to get well coated in the butter, then I added a small glass of dry white wine. I used Pinot Grigio, it seems apt to use a Italian wine.

This got stirred for a couple of minutes and then I started adding the stock.

I used the stock I'd kept from preparing a gammon. All this involved was boiling a gammon joint with stock veg - carrot, onion and celery - along with some bay leaf and a few black peppercorns. I finished the gammon off in the oven with a mustard and brown sugar glaze. It was delicious and was great in sandwiches for lunch. I simply strained the stock and froze it for future use.

After getting the risotto underway I started to braise the celery, using a method I got from Delia online. Very simply, just some softened onions, chopped celery, a hint of sugar and some of the gammon stock. Delia's recipe includes other veg and there's no reason why you couldn't use whatever you fancy. Fennel would be good.

The celery continued to braise whilst I kept adding stock to the risotto, stirring all the while.

Towards the end I added some frozen peas into the last of the stock, warming them through before adding them to the risotto. Adding frozen peas straight into the risotto would cool it down too much I think. Whilst there was still a little stock unabsorbed by the rice I added a good handful of grated parmesan and some chopped parsley. Then I put the lid on the pan and let the risotto settle for a couple of minutes.

All that I had to do then was serve. Risotto, then braised celery and some of the rich braising liquor. A little bit more parmesan and it was done. It seemed to go down well with the missus, and the braised celery went really nicely, especially with the braising juices which added a nice depth to the overall taste. The Pinot Grigio that hadn't gone into the risotto went nicely with it as well.

Prawn and Broad Bean Risotto

Risotto is not a hard dish to do. All you need is the right rice, Arborio or Carnaroli, some decent stock (make your own, buy fresh or use a cube) and something to go in it, like some prawns and broad beans. Or chicken and herbs, fresh vegetables perhaps, crabmeat and roasted squash, whatever you fancy really. Here's a link to a post about one I did recently - risotto with braised celery. And if you're in the mood for something a bit different, try this - Italian bubble and squeak.

Most recipes start with finely chopped onion or shallot softened in butter or olive oil. However, on Saturday Kitchen at the weekend Antonio Carluccio was in Italy with the 'King of Risotto' and the King didn't use onion or shallot. So if you haven't got either, don't worry.

Another common feature of risotto recipes is a glass of dry white wine or vermouth. Again, good for flavour but not vital and not having any wine to hand shouldn't stop you from cooking risotto.

The most important thing is technique. You need two pans, one for the rice and one for the stock. Get the stock simmering on the hob so that you always add warm liquid to the cooking rice. To start, cook your rice for a minute or so in hot butter or olive oil - with or without onion/shallot/wine. When the rice starts to turn see-through at the edge start adding hot stock, one ladle at a time.

Stir the rice a few times every time you add stock and add another ladle of stock before the rice cooks dry. A good rule of thumb is to add it when you leave trails in the rice when you stir it. There's no need to stir constantly, if you do it'll take ages for the rice to cook.

Add the rest of your ingredients according to how long they take to cook but not before the rice has had about 10 minutes and is well on the way to looking like a risotto. If you're adding chicken cook it beforehand or just add it at the end fully cooked. Peas and other small veg can be warmed up in the hot stock. Herbs should go in right at the end to ensure they retain their flavour.

After about 20 minutes you should be ready. The risotto should be thick and saucy. Try a little - the rice should have a little bit of firmness in the middle, but only a little. If its at all chalky or dry add more stock (or warm water if you've run out) then stir and wait a couple more minutes, then try it again. The liquid should look glossy and creamy.

Before serving let the risotto stand for a couple of minutes off the heat and for a really good flavour add a good knob of butter, a generous scoop of mascarpone or a handful of grated parmesan. Check the seasoning.

With the basics taken care of (rice, stock, stir, rest) risotto really is easy. It's a great for veggies and meat eaters and works with pretty much all meat and fish. It can even be a sweet dish, like an Italian rice pudding, using fruit like blueberries or strawberries, fresh brambles or mulberries would be pretty good as well I reckon.