Jono & Jules do food & wine

Spring is definitely our favourite food season and it all kicks off with wild garlic. Find it growing in your local park (or packed in the veg shop).

Wine Suggestion: A minerally and textured Sauvignon Blanc; we opened the Clef du Recit Menetou Salon which was perfectly fruity and ripe and yet had layers and undercurrents of texture, saltiness, limestone and smoke.

Wild herb risotto – serves 4

• 175g baby spinach
• 75g butter
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 300g risotto rice
• 125ml white wine
• 1 litre hot vegetable or chicken stock
• handful wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped
• 50g asparagus tips, roughly chopped and steamed until tender
• 50g Wensleydale cheese

Rinse the spinach and shake off the excess water, then tip into a hot saucepan and stir until wilted. Drain in a colander and leave to cool before squeezing out the excess water, then finely chop.

Heat 50g of the butter in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and bay leaf. Cook for 5 minutes until the onions are soft but not brown. Tip in the rice and cook for another minutes, then increase the heat and add the wine, stirring constantly, until the wine has been absorbed.

Add enough stock to cover the rice, then simmer and stir until absorbed. Keep adding the stock until the risotto is cooked – about 20 minutes – or until the rice is cooked but still has a little bite.

Remove from the heat and stir in the spinach, wild garlic, asparagus, cheese and the remaining butter. Cover and leave to stand for a few minutes, then check the seasoning and serve.

(Original recipe by Gerard Baker in BBC Good Food Magazine, April 2012.)