Money Saving Meals

When Angels Cook

Monday, 08 August 2011

Say it with a dish is what Sister Germana wants us to do. 'After all, cooking is a language everyone understands when they sit joyfully at table,' she writes in her Italian best-seller: Quando Cuciano gli Angeli, adding 'remember, good food is an opportunity to help others smile and feel loved.'

When Sister Germana became a nun, she was assigned to run cooking classes for young women about to be married. For over 40 years she helped thousands of young women, teaching them about food, shopping, cooking, and caring for their families in good times and bad.

A new edition of her classic cookbook, which sold more than 2 million copies when published in 1982, is now available from St Paul's Publishing. It's rather like an Italian 'Commonsense Cookery Book' – it is perfect for absolute beginners and experienced cooks alike and is packed with around 200 simple, tasty Italian recipes for all occasions from antipasto, soups, pasta, rice, eggs, meat, fish and desserts to recipes for particular times or occasions such as 'When you are in a hurry' 'Making ends meet', 'When the family has the flu,' 'When little angels cook' and more. Here's her springtime risotto (serves 4).

Risotto Primaverile

4 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp butter
A little extra virgin olive oil
1 onion peeled and finely sliced
1½ cups (300g) risotto rice
500g (1lb 2oz) seasonal vegetables, washed and chopped
1 small glass (100ml) white wine
4 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

Bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan, then reduce the heat and let it simmer.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a frying pan with a little oil and sauté the onion until soft and golden. Stir in the rice and all the vegetables and cook for a few minutes then tip in the wine and cook to let the alcohol evaporate.

Just cover the rice with a little of the simmering stock and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, letting the rice absorb the stock. When the stock has been absorbed, add more, stirring when you add it just like the usual risotto until it is cooked (you may have some leftover stock).

Remove from the heat, add the parmesan and an extra nob of butter if you wish and serve.