You might say that this is not real risotto since it’s made with brown arborio rice, so as with any brown rices, you don’t get the creaminess of regular arborio. Honestly I love the texture of brown arborio, it’s chewiness, nutty flavor and wholesomeness. Of course, you can use regular arborio rice if you prefer a more traditional risotto, or short brown rice if you cannot find brown arborio. Then of course, cooking time needs to be adjusted. Brown rice take longer too cook, so be patient. Usually, I keep the water where I cooked the broccoli to cook the rice, it will add extra broccoli flavor. In case your kids are reluctant to eat vegetables, you can try to hide them like in this risotto, it certainly will do the trick.

Ingredients for 4

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1.6 cups (or 300 g) brown arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• vegetable broth
• 2 cups broccoli
• 3 tbs heavy cream
• 3 tbs freshly grated parmesan (reggiano)

Preparation

Start first by cooking the broccoli. Bring large pot of salted water to a boil, add broccoli and cook until tender. Drain and keep cooking water aside. Keep a few broccoli florets for decoration. Mash broccoli with potato masher until you obtain a very fine mash or puree, the texture needs to be somehow like a cream.

Put broccoli cream back at low heat and add cream . Mix well and adjust with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Heat olive oil in a pot, add shallots and cook until tender. Add rice and coat with oil for a few minutes, then gradually add wine and broth and broccoli water. Continue process until the rice is cooked and tender but still firm.

Add cream of broccoli to the rice and parmesan. Stir well and cook for a few minutes. Serve hot

I am wondering why some people don’t like cauliflower, is it the texture? the flavor? what is it that some people really hate cauliflower? I find it to be such a delightful vegetable, and so versatile.

I decided to call this a steak simply because it’s as thick as a steak and is cooked like a steak, “juste poêlé” but most of all it does replace meat. Here I have also used cauliflower purée in the rice, which gave it a smooth and creamy texture, brown rice tends to remain firm and not as creamy as arborio, so the purée added a more delicate texture to the brown rice.  It’s somehow a cauliflower celebration.

I would have preferred to use arborio “integrale” which is brown arborio, but did not find at the store, I’m not sure they carry it in the US.

I am always trying to develop new ideas and recipes for vegetarians. I don’t know what is going on in other parts of the country, but in the Bay Area, there are so many people with different nutrition requirements or restrictions, that as a chef, you always need to create appealing and nutritionally interesting dishes…and to be honest, I really do like this one. It’s colorful, nutritious, light and very flavorful, so what else do you need? just a fork.

Ingredients for 4

For the risotto

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot
• 70 g brown arborio or any brown round rice
• vegetable broth
• 1 dose saffron
• dry white wine
• 12 tbs cauliflower purée (use milk to cook cauliflower)
• 4 tbs freshly grated parmesan
• truffle oil for drizzling
• salt and pepper

For the carrot purée

• 6 large carrots, peeled and cut in slices
• 1 tbs crème fraȋche
• salt and pepper

For the cauliflower steak

• 1 large cauliflower
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the basil jus

• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 small bunch basil
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Preparation

For the risotto

Proceed like you would for a regular risotto but make it thicker. Infuse saffron in worm broth. Heat oil in a pot, add shallots, let them soften then add rice and coat it with the oil for a a few seconds. Add wine and broth gradually until the rice is cooked and absorbed (you need a thicker texture than regular ristotto). Add 4 tbs cauliflower purée, adjust with salt and pepper. Add parmesan, stir well and truffle oil at the end.

For the carrot purée

Boil carrots in salted water. When soft, remove from heat, drain and place in a mixing container (or in the same pan they have been cooked). Mash with a potato masher to desired consistency (I like it when the carrots are not too fine and smooth, so I can feel some texture). Place back on slow heat and add cream, salt and pepper. Mix well and keep warm.

For the cauliflower steak (and purée)

Cut the cauliflower crosswise, four 1 inch thick slices. One slice can be used for 2 people. Heat olive oil in a pan, cook cauliflower steak on both sides until they turn brown. Use the leftover cauliflower to make into a purée. Boil cauliflower in half milk/half water, when soft mash into a purée.

For the basil jus

For the basil jus, bring broth to a boil, add basil and cook for 30 seconds, remove from the pot and pat dry. In a blender, mix basil with broth to make it into a very fine mixture. Remove from blender into a bowl, add olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper if needed.

To assemble the dish, using a rind, place some risotto as the first layer, then add a carrot layer, finish by delicately placing the cauliflower steak on top. Decorate with a few tbs of basil jus around the risotto. Serve hot.

After a trip to Italy and France where I got to see my whole family for once, I came back really inspired.

We went to Cinque Terre (Liguria), then Tuscany (Lucca, Pisa, Firenze, San Gimignano and Pisa), then to my parents’ house situated in their little village of Isola di Fano (Marche). I am so glad that Italy unlike France is preserving its cuisine and traditions. France is being invaded by American food chains such as KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Starbucks and many others. I have seen a few McDonalds in Italy and that’s basically it. Italians like their caffe, tramezzini, panini, so Starbucks did not made it through yet. Let’s hope it will remains like this for a long time. Like in any other big city, and of course any touristy city, it’s not always easy to find good food in Florence, Siena, or even Paris, you have to know where you’re going and ask the locals for advice. The best meal I had was Da Tano in Fano (Marche) which is a fish and seafood specialty restaurant. Since Marche is not as touristy as Tuscany, you get to eat wonderful meals at an affordable price.

A few shots from Florence

A few shots from Siena

A few shots from Pisa and Lucca where it rained

Going back to my recipe, I wanted to use my beautiful artichokes in a risotto, I haven’t made a risotto in ages, and a risotto recipe is long over due, but since I had already cooked saffron rice, I decided to use it instead. I am not really a big rice eater even though I do enjoy it whenver I eat it…it’s one of those ingredients that I keep forgetting, just like potatoes.I used basmati rice, but any long grain rice would work well. Of course, a saffron risotto using arborio rice is also another great alternative.

Ingredients for 4

• 10.60 oz (or 300 g) basmati rice or any other long grain rice
• 1 dose of saffron
• 20.30 fl oz (or 600 ml) vegetable broth
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 lb baby artichokes, cut and trimmed
• 3 tbs dry white wine
• 4 tbs fresh or frozen peas
• 3 tbs freshly grated parmesan + extra for shaving
• black truffle oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Steam rice with vegetable broth using a pot or a rice cooker. If using arborio rice, cook it like a risotto, adding broth and wine gradually until absorption of the liquid.

In a pan, heat olive oil, add garlic, stir. Add artichokes, salt pepper and wine. Cover and let cook at medium heat until artichokes are tender but still firm. Add peas, cover and cook for another 5-10 minutes. When the rice is cooked add artichoke/peas mixture. Stir parmesan cheese and mix carefully.

Divide in dishes and top it with shaved parmesan, sprinkle some truffle oil and black pepper.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2012/10/rice-timbale-with-artichokes-and-peas-parmesan-and-truffle-oil/feed/ 2 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/05/another-risotto-story-saffron-risotto-with-dandelions-spinach-and-shiitakee/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=another-risotto-story-saffron-risotto-with-dandelions-spinach-and-shiitakee http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/05/another-risotto-story-saffron-risotto-with-dandelions-spinach-and-shiitakee/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 14:36:11 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=10294 Un’altra storia di risotto – Risotto allo zafferano, tarassaco, spinaci e funghi shiitake

Other names for dandelion or dente di leone, or even tarassaco, piscialetto (pee in bed) in Italian, pissenlit, dent de lion in French – that wonderful bitter green that grows into a beautiful yellow flower. As much as I love risotto, I rarely make it, probably because I never really developed a great relationship with rice. My mom would make seafood risotto or beans and rice once in a while but pasta was the most common dish. “Risotti” are Northern Italian dishes therefore not that popular in Central Italy, even though nowadays its popularity spread out beyond the Northern limits.

I am someone who eats about everything, thinking about it, I don’t think there is an ingredient I don’t eat…maybe one, yes one…sea cucumbers I ordered at a Chinese restaurant. I had no idea what it was exactly, I thought it was that long mollusk I have seen on some TV show (the guy who eats weird food) and that I thought I would eventually like. Well I was wrong, sea cucumber is something in between pork skin and jelly with a fish flavor, so I had to leave it on the table.

The world of risotto is so vast, and this is one version among others, you can explore it to the infinite, I will definitely play with it more often. I like mine colorful, creamy and velvety, one bite should slide in your palate like a caress. You can serve it on the runny side or on the thicker side (I kept mine a little thicker than usual because of the greens), but it cannot lose its creaminess which is the trickiest part for a great risotto.

The saffron adds a very nice pungent and refined flavor, and color too. The golden yellow color was so intense in the plate, contrasting beautifully with the greens…the more color, the better, but not any color…just the matching ones. I do believe in the aesthetic beauty of a dish, after all you devours it with the eyes first.

Ingredients for 2-3

• 7 oz (or 200 g) arborio rice
• 1 shallot
• 1 tbs butter (or olive oil)
• I dose saffron, infused in hot broth
• 1 cup white wine
• 2.5 cups or more vegetable broth
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/2 bunch dandelions, washed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 8 medium size shiitake mushrooms, cut in small pieces
• 2 tbs parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil or melt butter in a pot, add shallot and brown it. Add rice, stir a few minutes to coat it with the oil. Add wine and increase heat to make the wine evaporate faster. Reduce heat, then add broth gradually.

In the meantime, in a pan, heat 1 tsp olive oil, add garlic and saute dandelions and spinach, saute until tender, adjust with salt and pepper. Remove from pan. Using the same pan, saute shiitake mushrooms in a little olive oil and garlic, salt and pepper. Keep hot.

When the rice is cooked, add parmesan cheese, and fold in the vegetables. Serve hot.

Riso verde is a specialty I used to eat at our family restaurant in Italy, I haven’t eaten it anywhere else. My dad’s relatives have un’albergo-ristorante (an hotel and restaurant) Al Lago in San Lazzaro that also has a restaurant where they make wonderful specialties like this one.  All their pasta, tagliatelle, gnocchi, cannelloni, etc…are homemade, therefore many locals go there to celebrate special events such as weddings, baptims and have traditional “gargantuesques” meals. Last time I was there was for my cousin’s wedding but riso verde was not part of the menu to my big disappointment. You can also find some tourists during the summer in San Lazzaro, but being a small little town in Pesaro Province, and not as touristy as Rimini or some other bigger cities on the Adriatic Coast, the summers are usually not as invaded by tourists trying to indulge on local cuisine.

I have always loved this riso verde, basically it’s somehow a risotto, but they call it simply “riso” (rice). Usually as any other “primo” meaning first dish, it’s served by itself, and not as a side dish. To really appreciate it, you should really savor it on its own, and with nothing else to distract you from its wonderful taste and texture.

I was tempted to dress it up but then I resisted and I decided to leave it as it’s served at Al Lago. I added a little extra spinach, the original recipe has less spinach, and a little more cream, so has a lighter green color. You can adjust the spinach and cream quantity. I kept mine on the healthy side, but nothing prevents you from adding a little less spinach and a little cream. In Italy, they use Panna, which is a thick cream, heavy cream or crème fraîche can be substituted but it has a little more of a tangy flavor.

The trick here is to mash to spinach into a purée type of a texture so when you mix it with the risotto, you see no spinach particles. The green color of the spinach needs to be blended with the rice.

Also, I would not use a cooking wine but a nice dry white wine more like Vernaccia or some Northern Italian wines.

Ingredients for 2

• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 shallot, chopped
• 2 cups fresh spinach or 1/3 lb frozen
• 1 cup (to be adjusted) dry white wine
• 1 cup (to be adjusted) vegetable broth
• 2 tbs parmigiano reggiano
• 1 tbs heavy cream
• salt and pepper

Preparation

First start preparing the spinach. If using fresh spinach, wash them well, and boil in salted water for about 5-7 minutes. Drain well squeezing extra water, and chop them finely first, then with a little cream, place in a blender and reduce into a purée type of consistency. Set aside.

In a pot, heat olive oil, then add shallots. Let them brown then add rice. Stir rice to coat rice with the olive oil. Add gradually wine and broth and keep stirring.  Add spinach 10 minutes before rice has finished cooking. Add cream and continue stirring. At the end add parmigiano. Stir well all ingredients so that risotto has absorbed flavors. Serve hot.

I adore Fregola’s texture…those little round balls that are similar to couscous but are really not…It’s a pasta specialty from Sardinia and when cooked they remain somehow chewy and al dente at the same time.

This fregola has been prepared like risotto with a saffron broth then enhanced at the end with grilled vegetables and parmesan. I think you can find Fregola at any Italian grocery store or specialty store. We have a Sardinian restaurant in San Francisco called La Ciccia, they serve traditional Sardinian cuisine, which is really good (you can find fregola dishes, octopus in umido, pane carasau, etc… lots of traditional Sardinian products) and not really the typical Italian-American you see very often in many Italian restaurants, which I think is a mixture of different cuisines and influences. It might have been traditional 150 years ago, then with time, it became a modified cuisine mixed with local influences and ingredients.

Fregola is an authentic Sardinian pasta product and I have never seen it served in any other Italian restaurant other than at La Ciccia. As a matter of fact, I have never seen it in other parts of Italy either because it is a very regional product mainly consumed in Sardinia. So if you can find it, try it out.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying Italian-American is not good food, I’m just saying it’s just not real traditional Italian cuisine. For example Cioppino, that tomato seafood stew you can find in many restaurants in San Francisco, even though it sounds Italian, it is not. It’s something that was created in San Francisco. Isn’t that funny? A well-made cioppino is excellent, but it’s not really Italian even though you can find some similar dishes in Italy, I have never seen Cioppino.

I would be very curious to see the cuisine in Australia, if it went through the same trends and if it evolved like cuisine in the US did. Australia being also a new country, it might have had a similar phenomenon. A friend of mine gave me an Australian cook book she bought over there, and I have to say that the cuisine is very interesting with lots of influences too but put together differently.

Anyway, going back to Fregola, which is somehow the topic of this post, it can be cooked like risotto, or like pasta, or used in soups, or like couscous. It is a very versatile little ball and really delicious.

Ingredients for 3-4

• 1 cup fregola
• 2 zucchini, sliced crosswise
• 10 medium size mushrooms
• 1 shallot
• 1 saffron dose
• 2 cups or more vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Fresh parmigiano reggiano, grated
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Infuse broth with saffron for about 20 minutes.

In a medium pot, heat olive oil, add shallots and brown them. Add fregola and coat it with olive oil as you would do for risotto. Add saffron broth and wine gradually. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Grill zucchini in a grill pan and cut in smaller pieces. Set aside. Saute mushrooms in 1 tsp olive oil, and cook until the water evaporates.  Mix with zucchini.

When fregola is cooked. Add vegetables, and stir well. Add parmiggiano and serve hot.

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