Another fine idea from Olive magazine. You start with a fairly ordinary risotto bianco: arborio rice (two handfuls per person) fried in two tablespoons of butter for a minute, then add a glass of wine until almost dry. Then ladle in hot vegetable stock until the rice is swollen and tender. Season and add parmesan to taste.
The artful touches here are to add a tub of sliced ready-cooked artichoke (I personally recommend Waitrose or Sainsbury’s for these), and garnish with lemon wedges. You get the wonderful richness of the rice, the firm meatiness of artichoke, all rinsed through with this delicious sweet lemon. A real knockout dish.
4 replies on “artichoke & lemon risotto”
I a similar version the other day but made it with pearl barley instead of rice and added sauteed nettles. Marscapone amkes it more creamy.
I’ve never had the guts to try nettles for myself. Do you pick them yourself?
I’m sure mascarpone would be great, but the aim of this risotto was light and fresh over creamy. Good tip though!
NOTE: I’ve just read your blog and noticed you do pick them yourself. I don’t know what to look for!
The nettle season really started around easter when the fields started to come to life. Then the nettles are all young and soft. Now those ones are old and woody, so it’s best to avoid those, but go for the new growth (they keep sending out runners which grow), ideally just the tips of the nettles, like you are picking mint tips. There’s more nettle picking tips here: http://www.thecotswoldfoodyear.com/2008/04/1001-kitchen-tips-21-top-nettle-picking.html and nettle cooking ideas here: http://www.thecotswoldfoodyear.com/2008/04/sting-to-palette-cooking-with-nettles.html . I really like them. A bit like spinach, but with a much more earthy flavour.