Rick Stein’s broad bean, wild garlic and leek risotto recipe

“A little obsession of mine – I don’t there there are enough recipes for broad beans in this world,” enthuses chef and TV presenter Rick Stein. “I love them, but unless the beans are young and tender you do have to what I call double-pod them for this dish – that is, remove the grey outer skin of each bean.”

Rick Stein’s broad bean, wild garlic and leek risotto recipe

Ingredients:
(Serves 4)

300g podded broad beans, fresh or frozen and defrosted.
60g butter
1 leek, trimmed, halved lengthways and finely sliced
300g Arborio rice
100ml white wine
1-1.2 litres hot vegetable stock
Handful of wild garlic, washed and chopped (or 3 garlic cloves, chopped, plus a handful of flatleaf parsley)
60g Parmesan, grated
Salt and black pepper

Method:

1. Remove the greyish outer skins from the beans – you should have about 200g after doing this.

2. Melt half the butter in a large pan and add the leek. Sweat for about 3-4 minutes until soft, then add the rice and stir. Once the rice is all coated in buttery leeks, add the white wine and allow it to boil and bubble up.

3. Add the hot stock a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently until each addition is absorbed before adding the next. Continue until you have only a couple of ladlefuls left, then stir in the broad beans and add the remaining stock.

4. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the wild garlic, three-quarters of the grated Parmesan and the rest of the butter. Stir until well combined then season with salt and pepper. Serve with the remaining Parmesan.

Extracted from Rick Stein’s Cookery Course: Recipes and techniques from a lifetime in the kitchen. Published in hardback by BBC Books, priced £30.  Available October 29