CUCINA CARA MIA.......Random thoughts from "my dear kitchen" about food, travel, Italy, San Diego and life!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

RISOTTO WITH SPRING VEGETABLES


Obviously, being Italian, I have enjoyed cooking and eating pasta dishes my whole life, but there is something so comforting about stirring a pot of risotto for 25 minutes, then adding lots of fresh vegetables in season to brighten it up. I found this recipe in the May issue of Cooking Light..

2 cups shelled fava beans
1/2 cup fresh green peas
4 cups chicken stock
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped shallots
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1 cup uncooked aborio or carnaroli rice
1/8 t. saffron threads, crushed (I didn't have any)
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Rggiano cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 t. salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Cook beans in boiling water, 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water, drain. Remove tough outer skins from beans, discard. Cook peas in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well.
2. Bring chicken stock to a summer in a small saucepan(do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.
3. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallots and carrot to pan. Cook for 4 minutes or until tender., stirring occasionally. Addd rice and saffron, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine, cook 30 seconds or until liquid is absorbed, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup stock, cook 4 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until each portion of stock is absorbed before adding next (about 25 minutes).
4. Stir in fava beans, peas and asparagus with last addition of stock. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.

Believe it or not, I used to be afraid to make risotto! The photo is not from my camera, still working on that little problem!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your cooking is always inspiring! It's the prefect dish for a drizzly night like tonight.

And I agree-- cooking risotto can be relaxing. Some things just can't be rushed...and that's a good thing!

--katie

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Hi Linda
This is a really nice recipe to use with all the spring vegetables now coming to market! The rice makes it so satisfying.

Hope you get a new camera soon! Mother's day is coming up -- give a hint to you family :-)

♥ Pat

Linda@ Lime in the Coconut said...

Ya know...I said to myself..."self, Go see what Linda Lou is cooking up" I needed inspiration for spring cooking.

As always, you came through...beautifully!

YUM!

Ciao Chow Linda said...

This is a beautiful risotto. I made one similar recently, but didn't think about adding the risotto. I agree with you about Sedona too - a gorgeous place.