Snow White Danish Blue Cheese Risotto with Roast Hazelnuts & Pear

Ingredients 

For the Risotto

300g Arborio rice
100g Fior di Vita, Snow White Danish Blue Cheese
1 litre vegetable stock
2 shallots
3 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
1 sprigs of rosemary, leaves only
4 tsp of unsalted butter
salt to taste

For the Pears  

1 fresh pear
1 tsp unsalted butter
2 tsp brown sugar

50g of roasted hazelnuts
1 sprig of rosemary, leaves only

Method

Peel and finely chop the shallots. 

Place the stock in a pot and bring to a gentle simmer. 

Peel the pear, quarter length wise and remove seeds. 

Place the pears on a roasting dish, and toss with the sugar, butter and rosemary. 

Roast in a small dish in the oven for 15 minutes at 180ºC. 

Place a large frying pan on a medium to low heat and add the butter. Once the butter has melted add the shallots and sweat. 

Add the rice to the pan, along with the thyme and rosemary, and gently toast for 2 minutes. 

Add stock slowly, enough to cover the rice and cook, stirring constantly. Keep on repeating this process till the rice is cooked. Roughly 20 minutes. 

Add the Fior di Vita, Snow White Danish Blue Cheese to the risotto and stir. Serve right away.

Garnish each plate with roast pears, crumbled Fior di Vita, Snow White Danish Blue Cheese, roasted hazelnuts and the left over liquid from the pears. 

Recipe by – Keith Abela