Wednesday 4 March 2009

Pea and taleggio risotto with anchovy crumbs; radicchio




Large onion
3 cloves garlic
Butter
Marigold Bouillon powder
Risotto rice
Piece of taleggio the size of your palm, chopped into hunks
Frozen peas
Tin of anchovies
White bread
Radicchio
Olive oil
Lemon
Sea salt
Pepper

Drop a tablespoon of bouillon into a saucepan, pour in a litre of boiling water, place on a gentle heat and stir.

Finely chop an onion and three cloves of garlic and sweat, without colouring, in olive oil for about 8 mins. Turn the heat up and tip in three or four large handfuls of risotto rice. Stir vigorously for a minutes.

Slosh in a ladleful of hot stock and stir, stir, stir, massaging the starch out of the rice as you go. When the stock is absorbed, add another ladleful. When you have used up half the stock, tip the peas into the stock pan, and allow to simmer gently as you continue to spoon and stir the risotto, combining the peas gradually. Continue until all the stock is used up, or until you like the consistency of the risotto. It should have bite, but be creamy and smooth.

Take the risotto off the heat and add the hunks of tallegio, gently folding. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the risotto and leave for 5 minutes to rest.

Meanwhile, tip 3 anchovy fillets and a slice of white bread (crusts removed) into a food processor and blitz to fine crumbs. Heat some butter in a pan and cook the crumbs over a high heat until they are golden and glistening – don’t let them burn.

To serve, spoon the risotto onto plates and sprinkle with the anchovy crumbs. Serve with radicchio salad:

Radicchio salad

Gently pull the leaves, whole, from the bulb, and arrange on a platter. Drizzle with olive oil, the scantest dribble of lemon juice, a pinch of brown sugar, sea salt and pepper.

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