Risotto Radicchio
Risotto; a classic of northern Italian cuisine is simply rice cooked in broth. This is why choosing the right rice is really important. What you are looking for is a short-grain Italian rice that is perfectly suited to slow cooking, enabling the grains to slowly absorb the liquid and release starch to create a creamy consistency. The three most popular kinds of risotto rice are Carnaroli, Vialone Nano which is considered the best option, and Arborio which is the most widely available. For the following recipe, any of these three would work perfectly.
As for radicchio I used the red radicchio from Verona. It is oval shaped, with white well developed veins and tastes slightly bitter, but another great option would be the one from Treviso.
“When making Rissoto is really importan to use a wooden spoon, so you don’t break the rice. ”
Ingredients
Servers 4
320 grams (1 1/2 cups) Rissoto Rice
2 small (about 400 grams) Radicchio
1/2 Onion, finely chopped
7 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 knobs (60 grams) Butter
4 cups (1 litre) Vegetable or Chicken Stock
1 cup Dry White Wine
3-4 tbsp finely grated Parmesan Cheese
Method
Remove any wilted leaves from the outside of the radicchio and slice in half. Remove the core, and chop it finely.
Saute the onion in olive oil over a low heat in a skillet. Then add the radicchio and a pinch of salt and cook for about 5 minutes.
Put the rice in the same pan and toss together over medium heat for another 5 minutes, or until it begins to appear translucent.
Add the wine and turn the heat up a little bit. Wait until all liquid is evaporated.
At this point, start adding the vegetable stock, a scoop at a time, letting the rice absorb most of the liquid before adding the next and turn the heat down to medium again. This process should take about 20 minutes.
When the rice is ready (it should be al dente), remove the pan from the heat, add the butter and the grated Parmesan and stir until it becomes creamy. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately and top it with some extra parmesan and some finely chopped raw radicchio stripes for garnish.
