Cauliflower Cheese Risotto

I was never what you would call a Risotto fan. The ones I tasted were often bland and not very exciting. One of which was in a Michelin Star restaurant. It was spectacularly expensive, and spectacularly disappointing. It was criminal actually, and talking of which, my dinning companion's credit card was cloned by one of their repellent staff, we have never been back! Anyway, I recently had the best Risotto, Pea and Mint, in a tiny Gastro Pub in Salisbury. It was amazing, I wanted to eat the bowl and possibly the chef who made it, in the hope of tasting any remaining infusion.
So I started making them. They have to be the cheapest thing in the world to make and you can use anything you fancy in them. I am skint at the moment, and the larder had only some onion, celery and a cauliflower, which was coming to the end of its life. So I made Cauliflower Cheese Risotto, it was lovely. I'll admit it's not very Italian, but it is most definitely comfort food heaven. Here's the recipe.


Ingredients (serves 4)
12oz Risotto Rice
2 pints of stock (chicken or Veggie)
1 Whole Cauliflower
40z Very Strong Cheddar
30z Parmesan
Dry Tarragon
Nutmeg
Dijon Mustard
1 Onion
1 Sticky of celery
5 Cloves of Garlic

Method
1, Heat the stock to simmering
2,Finely chop onion, garlic and celery. Keep the garlic separate.
3, Grate the cauliflower florets (see picture above) and chop up the stalks
4, Fry the onion, chopped cauliflower stalks and celery in 2 tblsp of Olive Oil for about 10 minutes till soft
5, Stir in the rice and garlic and keep stirring, you will see the grains starting to burst. Lower the heat, and once they look like they are going transparent add a small glass of white wine. Keep stirring until all the liquid has been absorbed.
6, Add a ladle full of stock and keep stirring. Once this has been all absorbed, stir in your grated cauliflower, 1tsp nutmeg, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, and heaped tbls of Dried Tarragon (fresh is better if you have it) salt and pepper, before adding another ladle of stock. Stir very well.
7, Keep adding ladles of stock for about 20 mins, making sure most of the liquid has been absorbed. Taste the Risotto, it should be creamy, but with a bit of bite from the rice grains.
8, When you are happy with it, remove from the heat. Season if necessary, and then stir in well the cheddar, then the Parmesan and finally a knob of butter. Serve immediately

Always good with a nice fresh salad :)