Start by dicing the courgette into medium pieces before adding them to a hot pan with the olive oil, fry for a few minutes until nicely coloured and don’t forget to season them with salt and pepper, they don’t need to be too soft at this point as they will continue cooking once they are added to the risotto, once coloured remove them from the pan and set aside.

Next we are going to make the risotto so start by finely chopping the shallot, add the butter to the same pan you cooked the courgettes in, once the butter has melted add the shallots and sweat off, it’s important not to get any colour on the shallots as this will show up in the risotto and there will be a significant taste difference in the final dish, next add the risotto rice and cook out for a few mins, add the white wine and reduce, you can use this time to scrape off all the excess bits from the bottom of the pan which will help build the flavour of the risotto. Once the wine has reduced you can add the chicken stock but add this slowly whilst continuously stirring and reducing each time before adding more, keep doing this until all of the stock has been added and the risotto is cooked but still with a bit of a bite (Al dente).

We are now going to make the stuffing mixture for the courgette flower, start by adding the nduja, mascarpone and the lemon juice to a food blender and blitz until smooth. Open up the courgette flower and remove the stem from the inside of the flower, wash gently inside of the flower with water and then add the stuffing mixture, once added twist the tip of the flower to close it.

To a saucepan add the vegetable oil and turn on to a medium heat, allow about 5-10 minutes to reach temperature, to test whether the oil Is hot enough you can drop a tiny bit of flour in and if it bubbles quickly then the oil is ready, before adding the courgette flowers to the hot oil just quickly add the parsley for a few seconds to go crispy, remove and place onto a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb some of the oil.

Now we are going to make the batter, it’s very simple, just add the flour to a bowl and pour in the sparkling water, add the water slowly bit by bit until you have a smooth texture, you don’t want it too thin as it will just run off and you don’t want it to be too thick otherwise it won’t go crispy, dip the flower into the batter and slowly add it to the oil, cook the flower for around 5 minutes or until golden in colour and crispy.

To finish the risotto, add in the mascarpone, the grated parmesan and the cooked diced courgette pieces, stir until everything is mixed in nicely.

To plate up simply spoon the risotto onto the middle of the bowl, add the crispy courgette flower and garnish with the crispy parsley and top it off with a little more grated parmesan. Enjoy!