Date I made this
recipe: April 21, 2013
A Table in Tuscany
– Classic Recipes from the Heart of Italy – Collected and Illustrated by Leslie Forbes
Published by: Chronicle Books
ISNB: 0-87701-832-4
Recipe: Spring Risotto (Risotto Primavera) – p. 91; Bonus Recipe: Stuffed Chicken (La
Gallina Ripiena) p. 135
As previously reported, we
have not been blessed this year with springtime weather, instead bracing
ourselves for snow and more snow. So I
can see where you might be tempted to think that this recipe for Spring Risotto
(Risotto Primavera) is sort of a “screw you” to Mother Nature but you’d be
wrong. This recipe selection is a result
of going to the opera.
On Saturday, April 20th, a
friend invited me to a performance of Turandot
by the Minnesota Opera. This opera, written by Tuscan Giacamo
Puccini, is set in China
and tells the story of a cold and cruel princess, Turandot, who kills all
suitors who do not correctly answer the three riddles she poses to them. And then along comes Calaf, the unknown
prince, who does correctly answer the three riddles and gets to hang on to his
head. I know—feel the love, right?
So I came home and thought
about what to make the next day (Sunday is typically cooking day in our house)
and at first thought something Chinese to go along with the opera’s theme. But then I thought about pasta to honor Puccini
and that also made sense because Marco Polo brought pasta to Italy from China,
and then I got real creative and looked to see where Puccini was born (Tuscany) and thought
“aha!” – risotto, the Italian version of rice – perfect!! (By the way, one of
my uncles was named Giacomo, which means James.
He later switched it to James but the family calls him Jack as that is
how “Gia” is pronounced. As far as I
know though, he does not write operas.)
In the interest of
disclosure, Andy and I have cooked from this cookbook, A Table in Tuscany before, making the Stuffed Chicken dish several
times over including Thanksgiving and Christmas (I’ve included the recipe as a
bonus below). But since I was bent on
making risotto, I tried a new recipe. I
can’t say I’ll repeat it though, as it was good but not great (unlike the
stuffed chicken which is fantastic). Plus,
I felt that the recipe needed a few adjustments.
First, the recipe calls
for beef stock and I just thought the beef flavor was too heavy for “spring”
risotto and all those spring vegetables.
Were I to make it again, I’d use a chicken stock or even vegetable for a
lighter flavor.
Next, the recipe called
for greenish tomatoes and good luck finding those the day before a snowstorm,
and so I used regular. They were quickly
pulverized by the stirring that needed to take place to make the risotto. Had I to do it over again, I’d make the
risotto and then add the vegetables so they don’t turn mushy.
Next, risotto is a tricky
bugger to make (and one that my Sicilian family never put on the stove – ever). You need to find the right balance between
creamy and al dente and I think we cooked it too long. This was all my fault – I just didn’t want to
eat al dente risotto and so suggested to my husband that he cook it a bit
longer. It was still creamy but was
“this close” to becoming paste. Clearly,
I am lacking the gene needed to totally nail this dish.
Finally, as I was eating
it, I said to Andy that I thought it could use a little lemon zest to brighten
up the dish and to perk up the vegetables.
This was as close as I got to a “foodie” moment. I think I was right on this one though, and
so suggest you try it to see how it goes.
As it turned out, I got a
reprieve of sorts on Sunday when I made this dish as the weather was somewhat
decent but on Monday night it snowed again and it looked like Winter Wonderland
around here. My favorite radio station, The
Current, played Christmastime is Here
from A Charlie Brown Christmas, and
also played Sleigh Ride in the
background as the DJ’s were talking. I
love a radio station with a sense of humor.
Even more hilarious was the week before, the Twin Cities was testing out
tornado sirens for tornado awareness week and damned if we weren’t having a
snowstorm at the time. It’s kind of hard
to take the directive to “take cover” seriously when the snow is swirling but
with any luck, it won’t be long before the snow is gone and the weather warms
up and all is well (sans tornados).
Happy “Spring!”
Spring Risotto (6 servings)
1 lb 2 oz Italian Arobrio
Rice
11 oz greenish tomatoes,
diced
12 oz zucchini, diced
7 oz green pepper or
asparagus, diced
4 oz carrot, diced
1 onion or leek, chopped
Beef stock (Ann’s
Note: Directions don’t say how much to
use so I bought a re-sealable carton and heated about half of it, adding more
as needed.)
5 oz butter
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Cook the onion in the oil
in a saucepan and when beginning to brown, add all the vegetables except the
tomatoes. Cook 10 minutes over moderate
heat and add tomatoes and salt and pepper.
Cook for 15 minutes and then pour in the rice and a little hot
stock. (Ann’s Note: I recommend that you cook the vegetables
separately and add the tomatoes at the very end and maybe cook for 1-2 minutes
until softened but not mush. Doing it
this way almost turned the vegetables to mush and the tomatoes totally
disintegrated.)
Continue adding the hot
stock every few minutes as the rice absorbs the liquid. It should take 20-30 minutes for the rice to
cook to the ‘al dente’ stage. Then stir
in butter and serve.
Bonus recipe:
Stuffed Chicken (La Gallina Ripiena) – serves 6
1 large boiling fowl with
giblets
2 carrots
1 stick celery
1 onion
Salt
1 leek
Olive oil
For the stuffing
2 slices ham or Mortadella
sausage; chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme,
chopped
3 slices bread, soaked in
milk
6 tbsp pecorino cheese,
grated
8 oz ground (minced) veal
or lean beef
1-2 eggs
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp parsley, finely
chopped
½ - ¾ tsp nutmeg
First make the
stuffing. In a large frying pan gently
cook the chicken giblets in the oil until they change color. Chop finely and reserve. Add the sausage, meat and garlic to the pan
and cook just until the meat starts to brown.
Mix with giblets, herbs, bread, cheese and 1 beaten egg. If this does not bind the stuffing, add
another beaten egg.
Clean, wash and dry the
inside of the chicken. Pack loosely with
the stuffing – the stuffing tends to swell in cooking and you don’t want an
exploding chicken. Sew up both ends of
the chicken so that nothing can escape.
Put in a large flame proof casserole with the carrots, celery, onion,
leek and salt and cover with water. The
water should be about 1 inch over the chicken.
Bring to a boil and then simmer over a low heat for about 2 ½ hours,
until the chicken is cooked. Remove it
from the pan, cut the threads, carefully lift out the stuffing which should be
quite solid, and serve both the chicken and the stuffing sliced thinly and
garnished with either fresh thyme or Tuscan salsa verde.
