Risotto for spring

Another weekend's walking - this time in the Kent countryside - has taken me through some more fragrant patches of wild garlic. The flowers are not out yet, but the leaves are so bright and green and vivid, it feels somehow joyful - and almost a shame at the same time - to eat them.

One of my favourite combinations is wild garlic with mushrooms. And one of the best vehicles for that, I think, is a risotto. The vital fourth ingredient in the trinity of garlic, mushrooms and rice is cheese. There are many options here - you could go for a classic Parmesan, while I was briefly tempted by a creamy camembert - but I think a soft, rinded goats' cheese has the right balance of creaminess with enough assertiveness to balance out the robust flavours of mushroom and garlic.

It is a recipe that seems to speak of spring, to me anyway. If you have any wild garlic flowers, you could use a few to garnish the risotto.

To quote the other half as he scoffed his portion down: "Cheesy, garlicky, mushroomy - you can' go wrong."

The recipe is below, but because I'm full of the joys of spring, here's a photo of primroses I took on my woodland walk:

Ingredients

200g risotto rice (or any short grain rice)

1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vegetable oil (or small knob of butter)
A couple of big handfuls wild garlic leaves, washed and roughly chopped
About four large flat field mushrooms, or a mixture of different mushrooms, chopped and fried in a little oil or butter
1 litre vegetable stock (home-made or from a cube)
100g of a soft, rinded goats' cheese
Small glass white wine (optional)

Method

Heat the oil or butter in a large pan and add the chopped onion. Cook over a moderate heat for about five minutes or until translucent. While this is happening, bring your vegetable stock to a simmer in a separate pan.

Add the rice and a ladleful of stock. Keep cooking and stirring the rice, adding more stock as the rice absorbs it. After about 15-20 minutes, when it seems like the rice has made good progress but isn't ready yet, add the wild garlic and the white wine, if using.

Continue to cook and stir. If you run out of stock, use boiling water instead. A couple of minutes before you are ready to serve, add the cooked mushrooms and the cheese. Season to taste. Give it a moment more for the cheese to melt, then serve.