Serves 4

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 35 min

1 small onion or 4 spring onions
50g butter
1 small lemon
2 chicken stock cubes
350g risotto rice
1/2 glass white wine
1 tsp English mint sauce
About 4 tbsp vegetable oil
20 large mint leaves
300g baby courgettes
250g mascarpone

METHOD

Boil the kettle. Peel, halve and finely slice the onion or trim and finely slice the spring onions. Gently soften the onion in the butter in a large sauté pan or similar wide-based pan, while you remove paper-thin scraps of zest from about half the lemon.

Dissolve the stock cubes in 1 litre of boiling water from the kettle. Stir the zest and rice into the buttery onions, continuing until the rice is glistening and transluscent. Add the wine and let it bubble up and away into the rice. Stir in the mint sauce, then add half the stock. Simmer steadily, stirring once or twice, for about 15 min until the rice is beginning to swell and the stock absorbed. Stir in the remaining stock.

While it simmers, heat the vegetable oil in a small pan and when very hot, quickly immerse the mint leaves, a few at a time, lifting them on to kitchen paper to drain and crisp. Trim the courgettes and slice on the slant the thickness of a 50p coin – quickly done with a mandoline.

When the rice has absorbed almost all the liquid and is tender but with a bite in the centre, stir in 1 tbsp mascarpone to slacken further then stir in the courgettes, burying under the rice. Cover and leave for 5 min. Serve with a dollop of mascarpone and a scattering of mint leaves and a lemon wedge to squeeze over the top.

Times Recommends

• Top Ten most searched for recipes
• Chalet Chef 2010: the winning menus
• Gin and pomegranate jellies