The risotto files

In hindsight, I probably should have explained my love of Italian food generally, and risotto and pasta specifically, in my very first post.  So let me do that right now: I am to no small degree obsessed with Italian food, culture, and language.  So much so, in fact, that I've become functionally bilingual in Italian and been to Italy three times in the past four years, not to mention the ever-increasing library of cookbooks, guide books, and books about Italian history and culture that now line the bookshelves in my home.

I owe much if not all of this to my wife, Rachel.  You see, up until about six years ago I devoted no more time to food than most people.  I ate standard fare, cooked almost only when forced, and was happy owning little more than a Joy of Cooking to guide me through those rare kitchen escapades. 

That all changed one night when I came home to a risotto my wife had cooked from scratch (chicken stock included).  At the time, I doubt I had ever heard the term before, and I had certainly never tried one.  My wife set a bowl in front of me that was filled with hot, creamy rice, chunks of cremini and other mushrooms, a grind of pepper, and a sprinkling of parmesan.  Wow!  Needless to say, it was love at first bite.

That was when it first dawned on me just how rewarding a good meal can be, especially when it's cooked for, and shared with, someone special.  From that point forward I began to experiment, to try new things.  Some things worked, and others failed, but over the next few years my enthusiasm grew.

In 2001, we visited Europe for the first time.  After spending our first five days in Malta eating food we did not enjoy, we arrived in Rome.  We dropped our bags at our hotel, and immediately went for lunch at a restaurant near the Coliseum the American owners of our hotel had recommended, Trattoria dei Quaranta.

It was, without a word of exaggeration, an epiphany: crisp, deep fried zucchini blossoms, bruschette, tonnarelle with cacio e pepe, eggplant, espresso, and wine from the hills outside the city.  And that was just the beginning; by the end of our week in Italy, our enthusiasm had become a passion that I hope will last a lifetime.

I would be remiss if I didn't at least include a risotto recipe we cooked tonight.  There are now at least a dozen risotti we cook regularly, and many more we make as a special treat.  Tonight's falls somewhere in the middle: we would cook it more often, but the ingredients -- radicchio di Treviso and good pancetta -- are hard to come by.

If you'd like to make it and live in Toronto, the main ingredients can be had by taking the subway to Summerhill station and visiting two of Toronto's notorious "Five Thieves" food purveyors.  I've only ever found radicchio di Treviso at the Harvest Wagon, home to Toronto's highest quality, and likely most expensive, produce.  Just two doors down, some of the yummiest pancetta this side of the Atlantic can be purchased at Olliffe.

Here's the recipe:

4 heads, radicchio di Treviso, roughly chopped
200 g, thickly sliced pancetta, cubed
375 g, arborio or other suitable risotto rice
250 ml, red wine
1 cooking onion, diced
1 L, chicken stock
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
parmigiano reggiano
salt
pepper
butter (if desired)

Preheat chicken stock to a bare simmer.

In a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium high heat, combine bacon and 1 tsp olive oil and sauté until bacon is crispy.  Add the radicchio, and cook until wilted.  Transfer bacon and radicchio to a separate bowl.

Lower heat to medium, and add the remaining olive oil and the onion to the pan, and cook until translucent.  Add the rice, and cook until white dots appear in the centre of each grain.

Add wine, stirring.  When it is reduced, add just enough hot chicken stock to cover the rice, and stir very frequently.  The liquid should barely simmer throughout this process.  Repeat this step until the rice is al dente, approximately eighteen to twenty minutes.  If the stock runs out before the rice is cooked, substitute water.

When the rice is cooked, return the pancetta and radicchio to the pot and add butter, and parmigiano, salt, and pepper to taste.

Serve in bowls with additional salt, pepper, and parmigiano as desired.

Serves two with leftovers as a main course, four as an appetizer.

This risotto has something of an odd colour to it, but it is delicious -- a little bitterness from the radicchio, and a subtle smokiness and saltiness from the pancetta.

Comments

[researchgirl]

Addendum: He went from living on whoppers with extra mayo (eaten 3 at a time) to requesting a digital kitchen scale for this Christmas. Impressive!

[mesa az doctor]

A decent dish to have for dinner.