Tuesday

spring risotto


how was your holiday weekend? ours was wonderful & relaxing - filled with beautiful weather, a rooftop bbq, a corn dog from the shake shack and a few long walks in the sun. according to the calendar it's still officially spring, so you've got a few weeks left to make this delicious spring risotto. or use the concept as a base to add your favorite seasonal vegetables all year long. we found a great stand at the green market with amazing sprouted and leafy goodness and decided to pick up some pea shoots (which scream spring!) and lamb's quarters (new to us, but so tasty). too many people think risotto is a labor intensive dish - but it really just requires a little prep and about 20-25 minutes of stirring - and the result is definitely worth it! in our opinion, there are two key elements to good risotto - the freshest ingredients, which should go without saying, and a rich homemade stock. whether you prefer veggie or chicken, make it at home and you'll love the depth it adds to your cooking. hmmm, i feel another blog post coming soon . . on stocks!

Spring Risotto
serves 4

4 cups chicken stock
3 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled & diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 small carrots, peeled & diced
1 cup carnaroli or arborio rice
1 cup fava beans, shelled, blanched & second skins removed
1 cup lamb's quarters, roughly chopped
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup pea greens
in a small saucepan, bring stock to a simmer and keep warm over low heat. in a large pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil. saute onion, garlic and carrots until just tender, about 5 minutes. add rice and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. add 1 cup of warm stock and stir constantly until all or nearly all the liquid is absorbed by the rice. add remaining stock, 1/2 cup at a time and stirring constantly until each portion is absorbed. stir in fava beans and lamb's quarters and cook for 1 minute. remove from heat and stir in cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. garnish each portion with 1/4 cup pea greens and serve immediately. enjoy!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks fresh and the ingrdients are wonderful. I make risotto with arborio rice usually. I've never tried carnaroli.

The French said...

Looks delicious! I was initially thrown off by 'lambs quarters" until I looked it up and found out it's a veg. What a hilarious name. Now I have to make this just so I can say lamb's quarters:)

Louise said...

Spring risotto, gotta love it. I think risotto is one of those all year round comfort foods. Yes stock, need it, love it- the smell of it cooking reminds me of my days in culinary school ... Thanks again for the input ;)

Anonymous said...

Mmmm! This sounds delicious! I think I will have to try this recipe out soon! Thanks so much for sharing it!

Rebecca said...

LOVE your blog!!!

delaney said...

Ha! I just blogged about how stock cubes are fine if you have fresh ingredients, but I totally agree that homemade is a cut above for sure. Love risotto, yum!

Anonymous said...

I have been meaning to give making risoto a try forever now - you've reminded me I really need to get on it!