Parsnip Risotto

I really thought this would be awful – actually it was fantastic. It was this recipie from Abel and Cole with all the measurements halved….

PARSNIP AND ROSEMARY RISOTTO

Serves 4-6

1.7 litres vegetable or chicken stock

5 tablespoon butter

2 medium onions, chopped

400 g parsnips, peeled, trimmed, thinly sliced

5 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried

275 g risotto rice (such as Arborio)

1 large handful freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Bring the stock to boil in a saucepan, reduce the heat and cover. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a heavy large saucepan over a medium-low heat. Cook the onion until it is translucent, stirring occasionally. Increase the heat to medium, add the parsnips and cook until the parsnips begin to brown, stirring occasionally. This should take about 10 minutes. Then add the rice and stir for 2 minutes. Add enough warm stock to cover the rice, onions and parsnips, and all the rosemary if you are using dried herbs. If you are using fresh rosemary just add 3 teaspoons at this stage. Simmer the stock until almost all of it is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Add more stock, 200ml at a time and cook until the rice and parsnips are tender, allowing each spoonful of stock to be absorbed before adding the next. Keep stirring occasionally. It should take about 30 minutes in total for the risotto to cook. When it’s done remove it from the heat, stir in the remaining butter, fresh rosemary, and cheese then season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

The radicchio recipe – Radicchio Risotto

This is the recipe that a friend of mine said would be incredible after i’d whinged about this crazy bitter purple lettuce. Believe it or not this works, and it gives the risotto a very subtle bitter flavour, much less bitter than the raw leaves. Plus it goes a lovely purple/pink colour when its cooked. It’s almost as crazy as this lettuce risotto recipe on the BBC website – I still think that’s too odd to try.

I used this recipe from about.com – which i’ve reprinted below for ease

http://italianfood.about.com/library/rec/blr1046.htm

To serve 4-5, you’ll need:

2 cups short-grained rice, ideally Vialone Nano

12 ounces (300 g) firm, crunchy red radicchio

An onion

1/4 cup (50 g) unsalted butter

1/4 cup extravirgin olive oil

1 quart beef broth, hot

Salt and grated Parmigiano to taste.

Begin by slicing the onion finely and sauté it in the oil and butter. While it’s coloring (don’t let it brown), thinly shred the leaves and stalks of the radicchio, add them to the pot, and cook until they have wilted. Add three cups hot broth, heat until the pot comes to a boil and add the rice. Cook, stirring, and adding more broth as necessary, until the rice reaches the al dente stage. Just before it does, stir in another tablespoon of butter and grated cheese to taste (I’d go with 1/2 to 3/4 cup). Stir to amalgamate it all, turn off the heat, let the risotto sit covered for a minute or two, and serve.