Thursday, April 1, 2010

Green garlic risotto

This could have been called several things: garlic scape [Frenchie link] risotto, romaine risotto, green pea risotto.

For two:

Butter and olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
4 rashers pancetta, sliced thinly
1 head of new, young garlic, skin peeled off and each clove halved, longways
1/2 cup Arborio rice
1 bunch garlic scapes*, the heads snipped off and trimmed and kept; stems cut into small pieces - avoid end of stalk as it is tougher
1/2 cup of green peas. Frozen are fine and often better.
About half a head of Romaine (or Boston lettuce), chopped
2-3 cups stock (I use chicken)
Extra water
1/2 a lime's juice
Parmesan, about quarter cup grated

In a saucepan melt butter with some olive oil. Add to it the shallot, pancetta and cloves of green garlic. Do not allow this to colour. Cook about 5 mins. Add the rice and stir to coat with fat. Toast a minute or so. Now add the warm stock in ladlesful at a time, stirring inbetween. After about ten minutes add the chopped lettuce and stir.

Once it has wilted add the scapes. Add more water as you need it, to be absorbed by the rice.

Add the juice from the lime, and the peas. Taste. The rice grains should be firm but not chalky in the middle...if they are underdone add a little more water and keep stirring. Then add the cheese and stir again. Some more butter would not hurt. Some pepper. Maybe no salt.

Eat, but immediately.

* if you live in a green garlic and scapeless society, grow your own: separate heads of garlic into cloves and peel off extra papery layers, leaving about one layer. Plant 2 inches deep in well drained soil where they will receive a minimum of 6 hours of sun per day. After about 6 weeks small green garlic bulbs, uncompartmentalized, will be ready to be pulled. It will take a little longer for the compartments and scapes to form: the latter are simply the flowering stems of the garlic, snipped before blooming.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks SO much for posting this. I just discovered how easy risotto really is, but have no recipes other than "plain". This is going on the 4th of July weekend menu somewhere. It sounds heavenly and I happen to have some green garlic!

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