For a decent cheat's risotto (does away with all that adding and stirring), proceed as usual at first, sauteeing your onions gently (in butter, not oil). If you're also using chopped pancetta, add that now and cut down on the butter. Then turn up the heat and add the rice, just to toast it a little bit, stirring to coat with fat. Add a small glass of white wine and let that bubble for a minute or two. Then add any herbs you're using (chopped thyme is always good) and seasoning. Add your boiling stock (I find that you need slightly over twice the volume of stock as the volume of rice). Bring to a healthy simmer, give it a good stir, turn the heat down, put the lid on and forget it for 14 minutes (open the prosecco).

After that, you need to give it a really good bashing about for a minute of two to bring out the creaminess. Adjust the liquid. Only then do I add any other ingredients, such as cooked peas, broad beans or French beans, or sautéed mushrooms or scraps of leftover chicken or sausage. The world's your oyster. Turn off the heat and add a big knob of butter and a generous handful of freshly-grated Parmesan. Keep checking the liquid level (it keeps on thickening for a bit) and seasoning. For me, the coup de grace (but not for Maggie) is to stir in a handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley. You'll live forever.