There was a time, long ago and far away in my memory, I thought about risotto as a kind of fried rice. In a sense this is true, because in the early stages of the risotto making process you actually fry the rice in oil. But I wish somebody had told me about the creaminess that is the end result. For many years now, risotto has been at the top of my favourite food list. And I keep discovering more and more wonderful and exiting combinations. And making it, especially the stirring, can be a very therapeutic and meditative exercise. The smell when you add the wine, the whiff that enters your nose, the anticipation when waiting for the cheese and butter to slowly melt into the rice, and then the first little taste…

First clean the baby artichokes and cook until tender and chop into bite size chunks
Clean the artichokes by first cutting of the stalks (keep about 1 cm of stalk). Then remove all the leaves of every artichoke by snapping off all the leaves until you get to the centre (heart) of the artichoke. Cook the artichoke hearts for about 10 till 15 minutes in lightly salted water until soft. Test this by piercing the artichoke stalk with a fork. Remove the artichokes from the cooking water (keep the now green coloured cooking liquid for stock for the risotto) and let them cool for a couple of minutes. When cooled down enough to handle them with your hands, remove more leaves until you see the fluffy heart of the artichokes. Remove this fluffy part completely by scraping it out with a spoon. Be careful not to break off parts of the artichoke flesh. Trim off all the not so tender looking parts with a sharp knife. Now chop the tender artichoke flesh into bite size chunks.

This is how you make the risotto
Finely chop the onions and sauté in the olive oil with a small pinch of salt, making sure they do not turn brown. After a few minutes add the very finely chopped fennel and fry until almost soft. Add the rice and fry it while stirring for one minute. Add a slush of white wine and stir until all the wine has been absorbed. Now keep adding halve cups of stock and keep stirring until the rice is 3/4 part cooked. Now add the chopped pieces of artichoke. Keep adding stock and keep stirring until the rice is ready.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the grated Parmesan cheese, and for extra creaminess a knob of butter if you want. Stir a little and put the lit on your pan for a few minutes. Take the lit of the pan, add some black pepper to taste, give one more stir and serve the risotto with a sprinkling of broccoli sprouts (so you can tell yourself this is a healthy option). Enjoy!

Remember, making risotto is meditation in action. The more you stir, the smoother your risotto will be, because the rice grains release their starch this way!

Tip: Use the cooking liquid from the baby artichokes as a base for your stock. Add this liquid to powdered vegetable or chicken stock.