A legacy...

I sometimes find myself wondering, what will be my legacy? My mark on the world?

We will start with the recipe for the perfect vegetable risotto, fit for a princess. Some ponies use plain water to cook the rice separately, this is a mistake.

To begin, first you need your ingredients. These amounts are for four, so adjust as needed.
200(ish) grams of chestnut mushrooms, though any decent mushroom will do,
100(ish) grams of dried mushrooms, porcini, shitake, mixed wild or the like is good,
1 large pepper, any colour,
two medium sized onions,
4-5 fresh garlic cloves,
200 grams risotto rice, any variety will do, as long as it's risotto,
Light Crème Fraiche or low fat cream (this is for loosing weight, not flavour after all),
Grated parmesan cheese,
2 Vegetable stock cubes,
Salt, pepper, herbs and spices, (I like rosemary, oregano and paprika, but use what suits your tastes)
A splash of virgin olive oil

Cooking time, roughly 40 minutes.

Start by washing your hooves.
No, I'm serious, go wash your hooves.
I'm waiting...
Good. Now that proper hygiene has been tended to, we can begin.
Prep your ingredients first, the wild mushrooms need to be soaked in about half a pint of boiling water, you can do this in a measuring jug, cover it and leave them be. Chop the onions and other mushrooms as you like, and also chop up and deseed the pepper. You will also need to peel your garlic and crush it. Personally, I like to press it under the flat of a carving knife and crush it with a switft hoof stomp, but the more safety minded of you are perfectly fine with a good ole garlic crusher.
Now you're going to get a pan on the cooker and boil up enough water to use both of those veggie stock cubes and mix them in.
Once that has boiled and you have your vegetable stock, you'll set it to one side, then set a large pan over a medium heat and fry up your crushed garlic, onions, mushrooms (not the wild ones, they are still soaking), and pepper in the olive oil. Don't over cook them, about 4-5 mins is enough or until the onions go a little transparent.
Then, you chuck in your risotto rice, and cook that for a minute. Trust me, this is important. Not sure exactly how, but it works.
Next, use a large ladle to add one ladle full of veggie stock, and pour it into the pan while stirring. Keep the veggies moving and the rice will soak up the stock as it cooks. Once it is largely gone, add a second ladle full and stir that in until mostly absorbed. Then a third, a fourth and so on until the stock has been used up, While you are adding the stock, be sure to add your herbs and spices. I tend to be generous with them, but add to suit your taste. Remember, when adding, you can always add more, but you can't take back out, so add a little at a time and taste your cooking.
Never trust a skinny chef!!
From there, you pour in the soaked mushrooms, straight out of the measuring jug, water and all. It will have soaked up all the flavours and aromas of the mushrooms and will add another layer to your risotto.
Once this is stirred in, it will leave you with a nice sauce and soft, delicious rice. If it's too thick, add a little water, if too thin, let it reduce over the heat, but keep it moving. If your rice is still a little hard, again, keep stirring, and if necessary, add a splash of water.
To make your sauce rich and creamy, you add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and two table spoons of crème fraiche and stir them in.

And there you have it, a rustic, vegetable risotto.

Best thing is, this is just a basic recipe and can be experimented with and adjusted as you like. There are as many correct recipes for Italian food as there are small Italian villages and towns, so do not be afraid to change things to suit you.

You can boil chicken breasts or thighs to make a chicken stock and use that on your rice instead of veggie stock to make a chicken risotto.
Or you can add prawns to make a prawn risotto.
You can fry up pepperoni with your mushrooms and onions, extra veggies like carrots or even add olives!
Do not be afraid to experiment.

Hope you all enjoy!