Risotto sort of "Caprese"

One of my favourite dishes is “insalata caprese”, this perfect mixture of flavours and textures that in my view is so typical of Italian cuisine. A few weeks ago, in summer, I was in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, where the cherry tomatoes were ripe and fresh off the bush, and I came across this dish, which I have tried to recreate. It combines elements of insalata caprese with a rich risotto.

A former neighbour of ours was Italian and she once made a risotto in a high-walled frying pan at 11:30 pm, as a midnight snack. I was amazed at how little time this took. In this recipe I have used one too, partly because it works well for the final cooking part…

What you need

• 350 g risotto rice (for example Arborio)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium-sized onion finely chopped
• 100 ml of good white wine
• vegetable broth
• 2+ cloves of garlic
• grated parmesan cheese to taste (not pictured)
• about 20 ripe cherry tomatoes (or thickly sliced marzano tomatoes as I had no cherries)
• 200 g buffalo mozzarella, finely sliced
• 2 good sprigs of basil cut into fine stripes
• a drizzle of dry sherry (optional)
• Cheese spice mix (optional)

What you do

1. Sauté the onions in olive oil, then add the rice and stir until it looks glassy. (Do not let it brown!)
2. Add the wine and stir, then slowly add the broth as and when needed. If you like a creamy risotto, stir as much as you can; if you prefer a more grainy one, stir as little as possible.
3. Just before the end of the cooking period (when the rice grains are not hard in the centre anymore), press in the garlic; this way it retains its pungency.
4. When the risotto is done, dent the surface and put a cherry tomato into each dent.
5. Distribute the mozzarella over the top and season with the cheese spice mix (if using).
6. Put under the grill until the mozzarella has melted or even browned ever so slightly.
7. Drizzle the sherry over the bits of rice that are still visible if it has dried out under the grill.
8. At the very last minute before serving, add the basil leaves. 

 
 

Risotto with Radicchio and Mascarpone

Two remarks to start with: firstly, there are, I think, two schools of thought about the consistency of risotto, creamy or grainy, which is achieved either by stirring more or less constantly or by not stirring at all. With mushrooms I prefer it grainy, with this one I definitely like the creamy consistency, which is underlined by the mascarpone. Secondly, I had always thought of radicchio as a salad, but having had it as a crostini topping, I realised what a versatile plant it is. More on that one soon…

What you need

(serves three to four as a main meal)

• 400 g risotto rice
• 200 ml white wine
• 3-400 ml vegetable broth
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 or more cloves of garlic
• 200 g mascarpone, perhaps mascarpone mixed with gorgonzola
• 2 handful radicchio cut into strips, not too narrow
• 1 yellow pepper quartered and sliced (I only had a red, but yellow looks nicer)
• salt and pepper, optionally Teeparadies Hildegard spice mix.
• Shavings of parmesan or pecorino romano

What you do

1. Fry the onions in generous olive oil until they are glassy, add the rice and get it glassy as well.
2. Pour in the wine and allow it to be absorbed, then keep adding the broth, stirring the risotto quite often.
3. When the rice corns are still quite hard at the very centre, add the garlic and the mascarpone.
4. Stir for another five minutes or so – until the risotto is practically done – then add the peppers and the radicchio (this way they get cooked but will still be crispy).
5. Season with salt (if needed) and pepper, optionally but warmly recommended with the Teeparadies Hildegard herb mixture.
6. Serve with a generous shavings parmesan or pecorino romano

"Riis und Pohr" (Leek Risotto from Uri)

A couple of remarks to begin with

It is just over a year now since I started writing this collection of recipes. It seems fitting to mark this event with the first recipe I learnt to cook from my Mum in the place where I cooked it for the first time: in the mountain hut which her father built in the central Swiss canton of Uri, where she grew up. What fits very nicely also is that this is a traditional Uri recipe reflecting both the simple fare the relatively poor farming population could afford and the Italian influence (“Pohr” coming from Italian porro for leek), which is the result of the proximity to Italian-speaking Ticino, but also the fact that the Gotthard train line and the complex series of tunnels that characterise it were largely built by Italian workers, poor and badly treated, a fact that is also reflected in the simplicity of the dish. It was originally served as a complete meal and works as such, but my Rwandan son Charles loves a bit of meat so it is accompanied by a robust, coarse-grained pork sausage in the picture.

To add a bit of atmosphere, there is also picture of hut and the weather conditions on the day I did the dish.   

What you need

• 1 leek (large is good) with the green cleaned, cut into 5 mm strips
• 2 medium onions chopped
• 2 tblsp butter
• 350 g risotto rice (Carnaroli, Riso Nostrano)
• 200 ml white wine
• 400 ml vegetable broth
• (optionally 100 ml of cream)
• salt and pepper for seasoning
• grated cheese (Bergkäse/Alpine cheese)

What you do

1. Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the leek and the onions until the leek is soft (about 3 to 5 minutes).
2. Add the rice and stir till it is glassy, then add the wine and reduce.
3. Add the vegetable broth in portions always making sure that the rice is just about covered. You may need to stir to prevent sticking (the more you stir, the creamier the rice will become; if graininess is preferred, stir as little as possible).
4. Stop adding broth when the rice is soft. At this point you may add salt and pepper and the cream (if you use it).
5. Serve with cheese sprinkled over the top. 

Risotto with Green Asparagus Tips

The asparagus bonanza continues. The recipe that follows is again based on an asparagus fond and as there will be a fair bit of the slightly less tender stalks left over, another asparagus recipe – asparagus cream soup with fresh herbs – will follow to make use of these. 

What you need

• 1 bundle of green asparagus, cut off from the top, about 10 cm long
• peels and the woody parts at the bottom
• 30 g butter
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tblsp apple balsamico vinegar (or a not too acerbic white wine vinegar)
• vegetable stock cube or powder
• 400 g risotto rice (carnaroli or Ticinesi Riso Nostrano)
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed
• 2 tblsp olive oil
• 100 ml good white wine
• 5 medium-sized leaves of wild garlic, finely chopped

What you do

1. Melt the butter and and sauté the peels and parts of the asparagus that are too woody or stringy to eat until the peels are soft and the pan has taken a bit of colour.
2. Add the sugar, the stock and finally the vinegar, making sure that the browning in the bottom of the pan is dissolved, then cover with water.
3. Leave to simmer for at least 10 minutes, strain and put the fond aside.
4. In the meantime, heat the oil sauté the onions and add the garlic a bit later without letting them colour. Add the rice and stir until it looks glassy.
5. Pour in the wine, then the asparagus fond and stir. Leave to simmer for about 5 minutes, then add the asparagus tips (earlier if they are rather thick).
6. Allow to simmer till the juices have been soaked up and the rice is done (depends on the type of rice you use).
7. Shortly before serving, add the wild garlic but make sure you don’t destroy the delicate tips when you stir it in.
8. Serve with a generous helping of freshly grated parmesan or pecorino romano.

Remarks

With the rest of the stalks I make an asparagus cream soup while the risotto simmers. This works well frozen so as not to OD on asparagus. The recipe for this will follow shortly.

Risotto Ticinese with Ceps in Marsala and Cream

There are a few English terms for this fungus (what an unappetising word), boletus, cèpe, porcini mushroom,  apparently even “penny bun”. Whatever it is called, the term “Lord of mushrooms”, is probably the most befitting – and is not a million miles from the German “Herrenpilz”.

When I first mentioned that I was going to write about what I do in my kitchen, a friend emailed to ask if this recipe would be part of the project. So here goes.

What you need

Risotto

• 3-4 tblsp olive oil
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 350 g rice (Carnaroli, Arborio, Vialone; my favourite is Ticinesi Riso Nostrano)
• 50 ml white wine or Marsala mixed with
• 2 sachets of high quality saffron
• 250 ml good quality dryish white wine (See remarks.)
• 1 litre of hot water (depending on the rice)
• sea salt or a veggie stock cube and pepper
• optionally: 2 handfuls of fresh garden peas (which makes this seasonal, sort of…)
• 2 cloves of garlic from the garlic press

Remark: A non-vegetarian option is to include the marrow from two marrow bones.

Ceps in Marsala and Cream

• 25 g dried ceps (making this with fresh ceps is an almost entirely different dish)
• boiling water to cover the ceps
• 1-2 tblsp olive
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 100 ml good quality marsala
• 1 stock cube or equivalent (I use, non-vegetarian but tasty, venison stock)
• 200 ml fresh cream
• 2 cloves of garlic from the garlic press
• fresh herbs chopped (lovage or flat-leaved parsley)

What you do

1. In a heavy pan, heat up the olive oil and add the onions, stirring until glassy (if you use marrow bone, add it at this stage, chopped but use less olive oil).
2. Add the rice and stir until it too looks glassy.
3. Pour in the white wine and allow to simmer briefly.
4. Add the saffron and the stock cube, then top up with hot water (this speeds things up).
5. Keep topping up with hot water until the rice is done. (See remarks.)
6. Shortly before this press in the garlic and add the peas if you use the optional ingredients.
7. Covered with a heavy lid, this can sit for a while if you didn’t get the cep done at the same time…

1. Soak the ceps in boiling water for about 15 to 20 minutes, then squeeze them out and strain the water if the ceps were sandy, keeping it!
2. In a frying pan, heat up the olive oil. Add the onions and stir until they are on the point of turning golden.
3. Add the ceps and fry for about 1 to 2 minutes, seasoning with a bit of pepper. (If using instant stock, add it now too.)
4. Add the marsala and reduce to about half, then add the strained ceps water and reduce again to about half.
5. Pour in the cream and allow to bubble vigorously, reducing the sauce and thickening it at the same time. (See remarks.)
6. Add the garlic and the finely chopped herbs. 

 

Remarks

About cooking wines: I make it a point never to use a wine or a fortified wine like Madeira, Marsala or Port that I wouldn’t have my family or my guests drink. It needn’t be the stuff that costs an average salary of an ambitious investment banker, but it should be of good quality. In my experience the difference between something to keep the ribs apart and a good meal is that all the ingredients are of as good quality as can be got hold of (and paid for).

There are two very different approaches cooking a risotto depending on whether you want an almost liquid, creamy risotto or a relatively dry, lighter one. For this dish I prefer the latter, which you can achieve with the Riso Nostrano from Ticino, the variety I use when I can get it because there is a creamy sauce that complements the relatively dry risotto rather nicely. However, there are also times when I really prefer a very creamy risotto. This is easily achieved but a little bit more work: keep stirring the rice and add the liquid bit by bit. This type works wonderfulyl with fresh ceps, which I very simply cut into to risotto relatively early on. Adding a lump of mild blue cheese and/or some cream in the last 10 minutes is another way of getting this creamy type of risotto just right!

Next, thickening sauces is a topic I have already covered. Briefly and quoting the passage: cream added at the end of the cooking process, bit by bit while the sauce bubbles vigorously, results in a nicely creamy sauce without the flour flavour. In addition you can very easily check how liquid or how thick the sauce is going to be. 

One last remark: If the sauce is put through the food processor, a very creamy, rich crostini topping results, one that needs eating relatively quickly and usually is...