So as not to lose the habit

Dear Internet,

It's been a while since I got all foodiefied on you. Partly because NOS's tonsils burst into open flame, and partly because I didn't want this to be A Foodie Blog. But I figure you have to eat, and I can't put a light under a bushel (to riff off Sacred Writ) and therefore I bring you something springy. (At this time of the year, it should also work for the Southern Hemisphere types, if acted upon with no undue delay.)

Now is the time of the year when the Foodie thinks of risotto. Mostly because Spring has sprung and fresh new vegetables have sprung right along with it. Fresh basil, tomatoes are all starting to peek from the bins of the stellar folk who keep the Farmer’s Markets humming. A bounty is heading our way and we should do it homage. The Foodie mindset is filled not with restrictions, but with possibilities. Therefore, a risotto. It is a good and delicious thing, crammed to the rafters with the nutritional goodness of tomatoes (lycopene, beta-carotene and almost certainly oodles of as-yet-unknown-enes). This risotto straddles many divides, it is warming since the evenings and nights are still crisp, but light so you don’t feel leaden by 8pm. In our case, 9pm...but you get the idea.

The keys to this, as all Foodie things in the Foodieverse, are primarily portion and proportion. (This means that standing over the kitchen sink and eating it out of the pot with the wooden spoon is contrary to The Foodie Code.) This risotto makes a stellar side dish to accompany a bit of grilled chicken (liberally rubbed with Italian herbs, or maybe gremolata) or some sauteed or grilled shrimp or prawns (my Lenten fave), with an accompaniment of some garlic/red pepper-y sautéed spinach or rapini. This is one of those recipes where it is really key is to use the absolute best ingredients you can find. The fewer steps something takes from farm to palate, the better it will taste, the more it will satisfy you and the greater the benefits.

RISOTTO MARGHERITA (Serves 6)
1½ cups grape* tomatoes (halved & seeded…tomato seeds are kind of bitter)
2 tablespoons fresh basil – rolled up and cut into VERY fine shreds** in a chiffonade
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin*** olive oil
1 - 1½ teaspoons kosher or sea salt (start with the ½ and adjust to taste)
2 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste
5 cups “pale” defatted chicken stock**** (if you are using store bought, try to get the kind that is low in sodium and is aseptically packaged in a box)
½ cup yellow onion, diced
1½ cups raw arborio (if you can’t find it but have a Spanish/Latin market nearby, “Valencia” will work in a pinch; if you want to be hyperfoodie, try carnaroli or vialone) rice
½ cup dry white wine, a leftover Pinot Grigio would work here
2 ounces fresh mozzarella***** cheese, diced (if you get the smaller sized ones -- bocconcini or ciliengine -- your life will be a lot easier)
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1- Combine the tomatoes, basil, half of the EVOO, ½ teaspoon of salt and garlic in a small bowl, toss well and set aside.


2- Bring stock to a simmer (don’t boil!) in a medium saucepan and keep it warm. Yes, you could “zap” it if you simply must.


3- Heat the other tablespoon of EVOO in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, and sauté it until it’s translucent (figure 3 minutes or so). Add the rice, and sauté for an additional minute. Stir constantly, since it’s vital to fully and evenly coat the in the EVOO. Add wine, and cook yet another minute or until it has been nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. (Make sure nothing sticks.)


4- Here is the key part. Add warm stock one ladleful at a time, stirring until each ladleful of stock is absorbed prior to adding the next ladleful…figure about 20 minutes total. Yes, you may switch hands. No, you don't need to stir it constantly. Every couple of minutes or so, just when the stock is pretty much -- +/- 75% -- absorbed. The purpose of the stirring is to help evenly release the starch molecules into the liquid, to generate the requisite creaminess.


5- Add tomatoes & co., cooking another couple of minutes, stirring GENTLY (so as not to mush up the tomatoes you just spent all that time cutting and cleaning.



6- Remove from heat, stir in mozzarella (slowly, in small batches)


7- Sprinkle each serving with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and pepper.


8- Do your impression of Meg Ryan from When Harry Met Sally


VARIATIONS: Use half as much slivered sun-dried tomatoes instead, and the oil from the SDT jar instead of EVOO. Use fresh thyme instead of basil. Once you get the basic technique down (sautee aromatics, sautee rice, add wine & stock in increments, add flavorings) you can risotto-ize anything...to much fanfare. For example, swapping out the tomatoes for reconstituted porcinis, some of the stock for the porcini soaking liquid, thyme for the basil and gorgonzola for the mozzarella. Etc.



So there.



-J.


* You could use other types of tomato, but aim for the as small as possible to you have as optimal a ratio of tomato skin to flesh, to help them hold their shape. However, anything from "plum" on down will be fine, if that whole "holding its shape" thing doesn't mean so much to you. I expect it didn't to whichever Italian peasant grandma invented this.


** As fine as you have patience for


*** Since we’re trying to minimize greasiness and/or heaviness, it is vital to use the most flavorful stuff you can get your hands on. Otherwise you'd need a gallon of the stuff to be able to have some EVOO taste.


**** When you make your own stocks (and you simply must!) do not roast the bits you are using if you want a pale stock, as you would in this case. Just start with raw chicken scraps and cold water.


***** Use the “regular” cow’s milk—also called fior di latte—here. The nuances of the buffalo mozzarella would be lost by cooking.