Friday, February 17, 2012

Risotto Bianco

I can’t believe Canal House Cooking is already on Volume No. 7, and I can’t believe I don’t have them all. I definitely need to fill those holes in my collection. This latest volume was inspired by Hirsheimer and Hamilton’s month-long visit to Tuscany, and I received a review copy. They spent a month in a stone farmhouse at the end of a gravel road and cooked with all the ingredients of fall they found nearby. When they returned to their studio, they developed the dishes found in this volume based on simple, Italian, autumn cooking. There are tramezzini and panini with truffle butter and buttered toasts with bottarga, hearty soups with chicken and escarole or little stuffed pasta, and there is pasta. With recipes for fresh spinach pasta and ricotta, you can make lasagne, ravioli, and tagliatelle dishes entirely from scratch. There are dishes for seafood, poultry, and meat. In the vegetables section, the peppers in agrodolce are stuffed with anchovies and covered with a reduced sauce made from currants and vinegar, and the photo alone convinced me I need to try it. For dolci, there’s an apple cake, a beautiful jam tart, and gelato di gianduia among others. I’ll be turning back to the pasta pages soon enough, but first, I tried the risotto bianco. It’s as simple as risotto gets since it’s built with water rather than broth and only involves a few other ingredients. The ingredient that caught my attention, though, was preserved lemon rind. I have some lemons that I preserved a few months ago, and I was delighted to use them here.

You might wonder if this risotto is going to be bland since you start by simply bringing plain water to a simmer. Fear not. The beauty of the dish is the simplicity. As the water comes to a simmer in a saucepan, butter is melted in a large saute pan, and finely chopped onion is cooked just until translucent. The chopped preserved lemon rind is added next followed by the rice. After toasting the rice just a bit in the butter, you proceed as usual with risotto-making. A little water at a time is added as you stir and stir. When the rice is tender with a firm center, a little more butter and some grated parmiggiano-reggiano are added.

The lemon flavor is actually very subtle in the finished dish, but then everything about this is meant to be subtle. Fight the urge to make it more complicated. Don’t use broth in place of the water, and don’t caramelize the onion. You’ll get a risotto with fresh flavors of onion and lemon, richness from the butter and parmiggiano, and a new appreciation for simplicity on the plate.

Risotto Bianco
recipe re-printed with publisher's permission
serves 4

Risotto is traditionally made with the short-grain rice of the Po Valley. There are three main rice varieties: arborio, with its large plump grains that produce a starchy risotto; carnaroli, smaller grains that produce a looser (wavy) risotto; and vialone nano, with firm grains that cook up soft with a kernel of chewiness in the center, just the way Italians like it.

4 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped preserved lemon rind, optional
1 cup arborio, carnaroli, or vialone nano rice
½ cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
Salt and pepper

Fill a medium pot with about 5 cups water and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and keep the water hot.

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy deep sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir the preserved lemon rind, if using, into the onions then add the rice, stirring until everything is coated with butter.

Add 1/2 cup of the simmering water, stirring constantly, to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Push any rice that crawls up the sides back down into the liquid. When the rice has absorbed all the water, add another ½ cup of water. Continue this process until you have added most of the water, about 20 minutes.

Taste the rice, it is done when it is tender with a firm center. The fully cooked risotto should be moist but not soupy. Add the parmigiano and the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and stir until it has melted into the rice. Taste, and season with salt and pepper, if needed.

—From Canal House Cooking Volume No. 7, La Dolce Vita by Melissa Hamilton and
Christopher Hirsheimer/distributed by Andrews McMeel Publishing




25 comments:

  1. Fantastic! A mouthwatering risotto.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Such a lovely and simple risotto, looking at the ingredients though, I am sure it is delightful as well.

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  3. What a lovely looking risotto. To me, the preserved lemon rind would be a must, especially combined with the parmigiano-reggiano.

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  4. Risotto sounds so warm and comforting right now. Interesting take on keeping it simple since often risottos are too rich. Perfect food for this drab weather we're having. I hate to complain because I know we need the rain but geez, a little sunshine would be nice for the weekend.

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  5. What a delicious looking risotto. I think risotto would have to be the ultimate comfort food. Great recipe!

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  6. I adore risotto, just perfect comfort food, and great if it's kept nice and simple. I have some preserved lemons too and am always looking for new uses for them.

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  7. The rice looks beautiful and delicious although as someone who loves making risotto the cooking method is unusual. I would love to taste a bowl. The book sounds perfect as I really love this kind of rustic Italian cooking. Another book on my list...

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  8. This is so wonderfully simple that I bet that anyone could make it with what is in the pantry which is part of the beauty of it! :)

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  9. I have never made risotto without using a broth but I'm sure the preserved lemon adds so much flavor. An interesting recipe that I will have to try.

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  10. This is pure deliciousness.....
    Simple yet so flavorful...
    Beautiful!!!!

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  11. I had some risotto yesterday but it wasn't as good as this looks! Yum!

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  12. I love risotto! I used to make almost every weekend few years back.. but now I somehow abandoned it :/

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  13. I love the simplicity of this recipe! The other day I was reading something on French onion soup, and the secret behind one of the greatest versions is using water instead of stock. Surprised me, but I can see how it could work

    in this risotto, definitely less is more

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  14. This sounds really delicious, especially with the lemon rind! I have found a few recipes with orange rind, and lemon rind, and have been intrigued each time. This recipe sounds like a perfect meal for me! Take care, Terra

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  15. I love the simplicity of this recipe! It never occurred to me to use just water, so I'm intrigued with the results. Must try.

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  16. I've never heard of risotto made this way but I think i would revel in it's simplicity. sometimes you just want to taste fresh clean flavors.

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  17. Nice fine dice on that onion! I don't think I've ever gotten pieces that small. We have all seven volumes displayed at Book Larder and they look so beautiful. I don't have any of them because the super simplicity of the recipes just doesn't speak to me, but this sure does look good.

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  18. A quite different method of making risotto but it sounds delicious and love anything with lemony flavour.

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  19. What an intriguing recipe, Lisa. It reminds me of the kind of risotto my grandmother use to cook. She always said stock was more needed when dishes required a "lift." For others, where the natural beauty would shine, water was fine.

    Thank you so much for sharing...

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  20. this risotto sounds deliciously simple and beautiful! definitely want to try this sometime!

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  21. I love risotto and cook it fortnightly. Yours look really good and I love the addition of lemon rind.

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  22. i'm not a fan of rice, it's true. however, of all rice dishes, risotto is definitely the most appealing--so creamy! nice job, lisa.

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  23. I never made risotto at home and in restaurants I find risotto to be a bit too sweet to my taste. Yours looks so creamy and delicious.

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  24. This risotto bianco reminds me of thick Asian congee. What's different, Asian congee will usually see green onions, soy sauce, ground white pepper (for example) as the ingredients to up the flavor.

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  25. Cheesy risotto, is there anything better? Rhetorical question, of course there isn't!

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