Apple Risotto with White Sausage, Cress and Roast Onions

This dish might seem a little strange, but I can assure you, it tastes nothing less than sensational! I found the recipe for this slightly unusual dish in Geoff Lindsay's, Chow Down book. The secret to making this dish work is in the sausage. Geoff suggests in the book to purchase a 'white' sausage (a sausage made from Pork and Chicken) from Jonathan's in Smith St, Collingwood. Unfortunately, when I got to Jonathan's they were all out of White sausages, so I got the next best thing, Pork and Apple sausage. Jonathan's make all their own sausages there on site and have a great variety. It's a great butcher's, probably the best I've come across anywhere in Victoria. They really know their stuff!

Basically the recipe consists of your standard Risotto recipe, but instead of using wine, you use Dry Apple Cider. Then towards the end of cooking, you stir in 4 grated (peeled) Granny Smith apples. In case you were wondering, yes, you do put in the Parmesan. Boil your pickling onions until soft and then roast the sausages and onions for 15 minutes, until cooked. Place some risotto on the plate, cut the sausages into three, place 3 pieces of onion around the plate, top with some baby cress and you have seriously, one of the best dishes ever! It's slightly left of center, but of course Pork and Apple go perfectly together! ...and let me tell you, Jonathan's sausages are simply amazing! My Dad and I both agree that they're the best we've ever tasted and believe me, my Dad has eaten a few snags in his time!! As Molly says, "do yourself a favour" a give this dish a go, you won't be disappointed.