Jamie Oliver is my hero. I love his trenchant vocabulary and the way he takes no prisoners when talking about the horrible way we feed our children. His recipes are brilliant, too. For him, I was even prepared to overcome my suspicion of radicchio, a salad of which Elizabeth David austerely remarks that it “looks very fine on the market stalls but [its] flavour does not come up to [its] appearance”.

You will need:

850ml stock
Olive oil or 50g butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
90g Arborio rice per person (more if you are very hungry)
Glass of red wine
Salt and pepper
3 thick slices of smoked streaky bacon, chopped into lardons
1 head of radicchio, trimmed and finely sliced
Handful of fresh rosemary

METHOD: Put a knob of butter and a little oil into a heavy-bottomed frying pan, add the shallots and let them turn pale gold. Then add the rice, stirring until it is impregnated with the fat. Pour in the wine, let it bubble and reduce. Begin to add the stock, which should be kept simmering at the back of the stove, a ladleful at a time. Don’t stir constantly or you will break the grains of rice, but add more stock as each ladleful is absorbed.

If there isn’t enough stock, dilute it with hot water. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a little oil until golden, then add the shredded radicchio and rosemary and cook gently until wilted. Just before the rice is cooked (which will take 20-30 minutes), and before all the stock is absorbed, add the bacon and radicchio mixture. Continue to cook for a few minutes until the rice is tender, add a fat knob of butter and serve, with parmesan, if you like.

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