Heat oil in a large saucepan and fry the garlic for 2 minutes over a medium heat. Mix in the leaves and cook for 4-5 minutes until they being to fall apart. Set aside.
The mixture should always cook gently. It is very important to keep stirring and to keep passing the wooden spoon over the bottom of the saucepan. Arborio rice is very sticky and will catch on the bottom easily.
Wash the beetroot leaves thoroughly and finely diced.
Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Fry the shallots and add the bay leaf. Add the rice and stir well so that it is evenly coated with the oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the rice is gently fried. Deglaze with white wine.
Prepare the hot chicken stock. Pour 125ml of it into the rice and cook gently over a medium heat. As soon as the stock has been absorbed add the next 125ml and so on and so forth until after 30 minutes all stock has been used.
If all of the stock has been used but the rice is not quite soft add a little hot water if necessary.
Mix the parmesan cheese with the rice and fold in the beetroot leaves. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.