1 large onion, chopped roughly

a good pour of virgin olive oil for the risotto, a little for the sardines

2 cups Arborio rice

some boiling stock on the side

2 zucchini, sliced finely into coin shapes

1 chilli, chopped finely

dozen sardines, gutted — You can do this simply. Just pop open the belly with your fingers, rip out the guts, and clean the lot under a little running water.

a little flour

1 carrot, grated

zest of 1 lemon

handful of fresh herbs

a little lemon juice

salt

black pepper

some Parmesan or cheddar, grated

1

On a low heat, cook the onions in the oil until they change colour, then add the rice, stirring so it is well-coated by the oil. Add a cup of boiling stock and stir until the rice has taken it in. Maintain the gentle heat all through the cooking process.

2

Add the zucchini slices and the chilli, and stir through. You can use any seasonal vegetable, or any combination of them – the idea is not necessarily to create flavour, but variations in texture, a little flavour and some colour.

3

Repeat the addition of stock, stirring it through until the rice is just about cooked. This takes about 15-16 minutes. After about 15 minutes, test a few grains to see how cooked they have become. The rice is perfectly cooked when it is tender, but still just takes to the bite. You know you have put your teeth into it. Set aside when the rice is just a little undercooked.

4

Now the sardines. You can fillet them completely and throw the boneless fillets into the risotto at the final stages, but the filleting process would drive you crazy. Better to cook them quickly, serve them on the side, and fold them through the risotto at the table. It also provides a bit of action and peasantry at the table.

5

The best way to cook sardines is by using a wide, heavy-based, flat frying pan, of the sort made by Le Creuset. Pat the sardines dry in a paper towel and dip them in a little flour. Heat a little oil in the pan until a speck of flour sizzles. Add the sardines quickly, but one at a time, kicking them about the pan so they don’t stick. When they are all sizzling furiously, the adhering flour has cooked and the base of the pan is hot, turn off the heat. Turn the sardines, cover the pan with a lid, and leave the sardines to cook in the retained heat of the pan for a minute or two.

6

Finish the risotto with a final addition of stock, and work through the grated carrot, lemon zest and fresh herbs, and serve in a bowl at the table.

7

Serve the sardines with a finger bowl. Fillet them with your fingers – the flesh will come away from the bone easily. Sprinkle the fillets with a little lemon juice and then fold them through your bowl of risotto. Season and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan if you wish.

WINE: Sardines demand white wine with character -even eccentricity. I like the wines from Western Australia with grassy, herbaceous characteristics: Houghton White Burgundy, Goundrey Sauvignon Blanc or Cullen’s Semillon.