Swiss chard, Parmesan and mascarpone risotto

Name: Swiss chard, Parmesan and mascarpone risotto
Yield: Serves 4–6 as a main course
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves; 500 g Swiss chard; 2 teaspoons flaky sea salt; 2 bay leaves, cut in half; 1 large leek, sliced (use both the green and white part of the leeks, and wash it if it looks gritty); 50 g butter; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 2 litres vegetable stock (you’ll need almost all of this but you may have some left over); 600 ml risotto rice; 3 good handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese; 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 200 g mascarpone; 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

Preparation info

Serves
4–6
as a main course

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Vegetables

By Peter Gordon

Published 2007

About

Risotto isn’t hard to make. All you need to remember is that the stock should be hot when you add it. The rice has ultimately to have a lovely texture (although Italians have hugely differing ideas about whether rice should be served soft or al dente – so you can’t really go wrong) and you can never cook too much! It reheats well the next day but is even better turned into fritters – roll it into balls, roll these in polenta or breadcrumbs and fry The Italians would never eat risotto as a m