Ingredients:
120g dried red kidney beans or lima beans, soaked over night
60g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
3 rashers of bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 small potatoes, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 courgettes (zucchini), diced
2 celery sticks, chopped
300ml beef stock
350g risotto rice
freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Method:
Drain the beans, add to a large pan of water and bring to a boil. Cook for about 60 minutes then drain, reserving the stock.
Heat together the butter and oil in a pan, add the bacon and onion and cook for about 6 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the potatoes, carrot, courgettes and celery and fry for a further 4 minutes, stirring frequently.
Now pour in the beef stock, bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until almost all the liquid has evaporated away. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly over low heat for 2 minutes then add the beans along with 600ml of the reserved bean stock.
Continue cooking over medium heat, (add more stock as necessary) until the rice is tender. When done, remove from the heat and adjust the seasonings to taste then stir in a little freshly-grated cheese.
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