Champagne risotto

Serves: 8

In her book Entertaining Chic!, Claudia Taittinger, of the world-famous Taittinger Champagne family, shares her tips for hosting fabulous dinner parties with sophistication and style and reveals a riot of recipes guaranteed to impress such as this champagne risotto.

Ingredients

• 2 shallots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 60 ml olive oil
• 2.5 cups Arborio rice
• 3 glasses champagne
• 2 to 3 cups hot chicken broth
• 30g butter
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 100g grated Parmesan cheese
• Freshly ground pink peppercorns
• Truffle slices, for garnish (optional)
• Chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1Peel and chop the shallots, and peel and halve the garlic cloves. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and sauté the chopped shallot and the garlic. Add the rice and sauté until the grains become opaque white. Add the champagne and let evaporate.

2Add a ladle of broth and cook, stirring continuously, until the broth is absorbed, then add another ladle. Continue until the dish has the consistency of a creamy, heavy soup (if too thick, continue to add more broth). This should take 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and discard the garlic.

3Add the butter and stir, then add the cream, the grated Parmesan, and ground pepper. Stir to combine thoroughly. Garnish with truffle slices and chopped parsley.

Recipe taken from our sister magazine France Today.