Oh yes! Another risotto! This one with Radicchio and one of my favourite cheese, Gorgonzola, that is a sort of Blue Cheese but more creamy, younger and less salty. It comes in two varieties: dolce or piccante. The first one is the most common and the one we normally use. Although “dolce” means “sweet” it is not sweet at all. This is just the way we describe food that is not spicy nor hot. On the contrary “piccante” means spicy-hot. This variety is much less common and when we talk about cooking we always refer to sweet Gorgonzola unless specified.
Ingredients for 2 generous servings:
– 1 round radicchio
– 1 medium onion
– 150 gr of sweet Gorgonzola
– 1/4 of a glass of dry white wine
– 300 gr rice (short grain Arborio rice)
– 3 tablespoons of e.v.o. oil
– 1/2 litre of hot water or hot vegetable stock
– salt
– 1 knob of unsalted butter
Finely chop the onion and put it in a large pan with 1 tablespoon of e.v.o. oil on a low heat. In the meantime cut the radicchio in two and then slice it very thinly. Add it to the onion and let it stew with the lid on untill soft. Stir frequently.
Now add the wine and keep stirring. After 10 minutes you can turn the heat off.
Put a knob of butter in another saucepan on a high heat. When the butter is melted add the rice and make it toast. Keep stirring otherwise it will stick. After a couple of minutes add a splash of wine. Stir for a minute and add the radicchio and the onion you’ve kept aside. Now start adding the water (or stock) a bit at a time. When you see it drying just add some more. You’ll have to stir all the time, it is very important not only to prevent it from sticking but also to activate the starch in the rice, in this way your risotto will be much creamer and delicious!
After 20 minutes your risotto is ready!
Turn the heat off, cover it with a lid, wait 3 to 5 minutes and serve.
Note: When we make risotto (any kind of risotto apart from those with fish) we would normally add a knob of butter and a lot of Parmesan cheese after turning the heat off at the end. Then we stir it and let it rest for few minutes… please feel free to do it! I didn’t just to try and keep it a bit lighter.
