We are creatures of habits. Good or bad, I'm no one to judge, but thinking about it, aren't most of our days such a serie of predictable activities, that they combine into a big blur. If I asked you what you did 18 days ago, could you give me a precise answer? I personnaly couldn't, not without checking my schedule.
In the end, the days we remember are the ones that were different, that an event made special and that we will never forget. The 1st of November 2000, December 17 in 2001, June 24 in 2004, the 1st of May 2011... Those are some of the days that counted for me, that changed something in my life, little or big.
Now I'm not saying that today will be part of that list, because life altering event can not happen everyday, but a little something special is nice too. So today I made my first Risotto!
I know, shame on me. I actually don't even remember ever eating one. I'm not used to cooking rice in general, and again I'm a creature of habit too, rice is what my mum made me when I was sick as a child, and to this day, I still do the same for myself.
So I bought arborio rice, but for the rest, I kind of used what I had at hand or what I like, and I'll most likely will burn in italian hell for doing so!
But I was happy with the result, it's creamy without having actual cream in it, it's consistant and tasty. I went for a simple version, but there are endless options to make it different. It feels like a perfect dish for the cold days ahead of us. This was a first, but it won't be a last.
Risotto
100gr of Arborio Rice
1 Onion
1Turnip
Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons of Porto Wine
1/2 a Liter of Chicken Stock
20gr of Butter
40gr of Pecorino, freshly grated
Chop the onion and the turnip into small dices. In a heavy based pan, on a medium heat, put about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add the onions with the turnip. With a wooden spoon, stir for a few minutes, just to get the onions translucent.
On the side, heat up your chicken stock, so it will be ready to use.
Add the rice, and stir again for a few minutes, for the rice to be coated with the oil. Normally at this stage you should use white wine, I didn't have any, so I used some porto wine to deglaze a little.
Now starts your 18 minutes of peace, because no one is allowed to disturb you. Give in your first ladle of stock, stir and always wait for it to be fully absorbed before adding the next one.
After 15 to 18 minutes, try the rice to see if it's cook and set it aside the flame.
Stir in the butter and the pecorino cheese, and let it sit for a few minutes. Serve and sprinkle a bit of parsley on top.
