Rice to Riches

I have a problem with risotto. Nothing against, in fact, quite the opposite...I can't get enough. I love cooking with fresh ingredients and altering them as little as possible and risotto is the perfect foil. Some veggies, like greens, can be slowly folded in, gently wilting in the heat of warm broth and lending their flavor to the rice, instead of losing it to blanching water, or being masked by onions and garlic. But it's not just vegetables that make me love this rice dish, it's risotto's ability to absorb any flavor you send its way. As the rice cooks, it gently releases starch granules, giving it the signature creaminess risotto is known for. That creamy liquid then easily takes on the flavor of whatever you choose to put in your risotto, be it fresh vegetables, saffron, herbs, or a purée (like mushroom or butternut squash). That means you get significantly more flavor bang for your buck, and with minimal effort, to boot. Twenty minutes of stirring and a little chopping (or not, if you're using a purée) and you're well on your way to a flavorful and elegant dish. It's no surprise then, that risotto is one of the first things great seasonal restaurants add to their menu when they want to showcase a special ingredient. Be it morels, fiddlehead ferns, ramps or summer squash, there's no better way to spotlight great ingredients and rich flavors than with a risotto.

And so, a flavor junkie like myself needs to learn a little self control in order to avoid exponential waistline growth (all that starch is no good for a slim tummy). Gone are the days when I made risotto once or twice a week, relying on the short 22-minute cooking time and knowing I'd have a chic meal in roughly the time it took to make a tuna fish sandwich. Now I treat risottos as good restaurants do: as a platform for particularly lovely ingredients to shine. It's with that in mind that the latest incarnation of risotto primavera came to mind. With more rainbow swiss chard, turnips and garlic scapes than I knew what to do with thanks to my CSA, I figured, what better way to get the most flavor out of these organic guys, than to toss them all into a risotto and let them sing? And sing they did, in perfect harmony with each other, every ingredient adding its own layer of flavor and resulting in a creamy dish so delicious I didn't even add the parmesan cheese at the end. Each veggie went in at a different stage in the cooking process, with the garlic scapes going first so they'd have enough time to soften and also so they could sauté with the onion and rice and release some subtle garlic flavor. Then came the turnips, which were small and tender, so although they needed a little bit more time to cook, it wasn't as bad as if they'd been large. And last came the swiss chard, which I folded in along with the last ladleful of broth to keep them bright green and with a little bit of bite.

Altogether the dish had an earthy, full flavor, a little sweetness from the turnips, some deep vegetable flavor from the swiss chard, and the slightest hint of garlic flavor from the scapes. Overall it was very impressive, not to mention beautiful. I made sure to utilize those swiss chard stems, which can be tough if left whole, but that easily soften in the broth and add so much beautiful color and flavor when diced. The turnips turned a lovely yellow, having absorbed the color of the broth, and the chard remained bright green with striking yellow and red stripes down the center. I promise you, one taste of this dish and you'll be craving not only risotto, but fresh spring veggies. Here's the final recipe:

Spring Risotto
(serves 2)

1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 large or 2 small green onions (whites only), chopped
1/2 lb rainbow or green swiss chard, leaves julienned, stems diced
5 small turnips or 3 large, diced
4 garlic scapes, cut into 2 inch batons
4-5 cups chicken or vegetable broth, warmed
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)
extra virgin olive oil salt

1. In a large, non-stick skillet, saute spring onions and swiss chard stems in olive oil until fragrant, about a minute. Add rice and cook until white and opaque.

2. Add a ladleful of broth and turnips. Lower heat to a simmer, and stir until broth is absorbed. Add more broth, stirring frequently until absorbed. Repeat until rice is cooked through and only slightly al dente.

3. Add swiss chard before the last ladleful of broth. Stir until swiss chard is wilted and risotto is creamy. Add parmesan cheese if desired, and serve. Enjoy!

-Laura

Spring Is In The Air

I recently realized that when it comes to culinary fears, people are scared of more than just ingredients and sad looking veggies. Sometimes it's an entire dish or even the action in the kitchen that scares them away. I, for example, happen to face anything even remotely resembling the act of baking with a great deal of fear and trepidation. The mere sight of a pressure cooker can also lead me into a tearful, hive filled frenzy. Other people fear grilling, undercooked food or choking on a fish bone. It's recently come to my attention that many people fear risotto, even though I have it on very good authority (my own) that it's incredibly easy to make and unlikely to kill you by choking. I'm still not quite sure how risotto developed it's reputation for being difficult, but just like J.Lo and Mariah Carey before it, somewhere along the way risotto came to be known as a high maintenance dish.

While it's still unclear if the aforementioned divas actually require that much attention, risotto most certainly does not. As I've blogged about before, making risotto is not the time consuming, labor intensive treat that restaurants would have us believe. In fact, I like to think of making risotto as kind of like babysitting--you don't have to smother the kid with attention and watch his every move, but from time to time you check in on him and see what he's doing, just to make sure he's doing okay. You're basically just adding chicken stock to a pan of rice every few minutes or so until the rice is cooked through. Old wives tales about lording over the stove and stirring the rice are complete rubbish. After all, do you really think there's a chef in a kitchen at some fancy Italian restaurant standing in front of a skillet for 20 minutes, stirring without stopping? No, of course not. In fact. I recently caught an episode of The Best Recipes In The World with Mark Bittman, where chef Mario Batali said all of this, and let's face it--I'm not arguing with him about Italian technique.

So, faced with a fridge full of springtime goodness, I figured nothing would be more delicious to make than a spring vegetable risotto (risotto primavera, as I call it). I used some delicious and absolutely enormous leeks from the greenmarket instead of onions, lovely fresh asparagus, and some nice sweet French beans. For some color and a bit of tartness I threw in some sun-dried tomatoes. I topped the whole thing off with Parmesan cheese once I took the dish off the flame, and it was wonderful. The dish tasted straight out of the greenmarket, and the rice really absorbed all of the great, fresh vegetable flavors. I can't say enough great things about risotto making and how easy it is, but the best advice I can pass on is what I heard Mario Batali say the other day when asked how to make your homemade risotto taste more like the kind you get in a restaurant: "More butter, more oil."

Risotto Primavera

1 cup arborio rice
1 cup asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup French beans or green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup leeks, chopped and well rinsed
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
4 cups chicken stock or non tomato based vegetable stock
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Sauté leeks on medium heat until just starting to brown, then add rice and cook another 2 minutes until rice turns opaque.

2. Add all of the vegetables and sauté another 2 minutes. Add 2 ladles full of stock to skillet and cook until almost all liquid is evaporated. Repeat until rice is cooked through.

3. Remove dish from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese. Plate and serve. Enjoy!

**This would also be great with fresh spring peas!!

-Laura