Cavolo Nero Risotto
A zingy Cavolo Nero Risotto that brings together the best of Italian cuisine and vibrant, nutritious greens.
Ingredients
- 1 medium shallot finely diced
- 4 medium garlic cloves minced
- 200 g cavolo nero steamed and chopped
- 250 g Carnaroli or Arborio rice (or other risotto rice)
- 3-4 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin)
- 2 tbsp butter (or 25 g)
- 150 ml white wine
- 75 g grated Parmesan
- 1 lemon zest and juice
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 900 ml of vegetable stock (or 2 stock cubes dissolved in hot water)
Instructions
Prep and Sauté the shallots:
- Peel and chop the shallots finely. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil and butter and sauté the shallot until softened. Take care not to burn it, it needs a gentle heat. It will take around 4-5 minutes until the shallots turn translucent.
Prepare the Stock:
- Boil a kettle and pour over to dissolve the vegetable cubes in a saucepan or a heat resistant jug. Or if you have a liquid stock, just heat it up on the stove and keep it warm.
Add the rice:
- Stir in the rice, ensuring it's well-coated with the oil, and let it toast for two to three minutes taking care not to burn it.
Pour in the wine:
- When the rice looks quite dry, add the wine and stir until the wine is absorbed by the rice and the alcohol has evaporated.
Ladle by Ladle:
- Begin adding the hot vegetable stock little by little, stirring frequently. Wait until the liquid is mostly absorbed before adding more. This creates the friction between the rice grains and makes the risotto creamy.
- Add the garlic mid-way through cooking the rice, by creating a small space in the bottom of the pan to saute the garlic gently. Pour a tablespoon of olive oil and add the minced garlic to sizzle for 30 seconds or so then mix thoroughly with the rice.
- It will take 18-20 minutes to reach an "al-dente" texture.
Prep the greens
- Whilst the risotto is cooking, wash and strip the Cavolo Nero leaves from the woody stocks (watch the video to see how I do it 😉). Chop roughly if you are steaming them or leave them whole if blanching. I steamed them for 10 minutes, then further chopped them in smaller pieces.
Mix everything
- When the rice is almost cooked, fold in the chopped cavolo nero, stir the lemon zest and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Add a good knob of butter and melt it through. Add the grated Parmesan, give it a taste and season to perfection with a little sea salt and black pepper if liked.
Serve and enjoy
- You want this hot! Quickly holler for everyone to dinner, dish up your Cavolo Nero Risotto into bowls, garnish with more Parmesan, bacon bits or herbs and seeds that take your fancy! Lovely!
Video
Notes
FLAVOR ENHANCER: Instead of adding the garlic with the shallots like most recipes, I suggest to add the garlic mid-way through cooking the rice. You create a gap the size of half a palm at the bottom of the pan to saute the garlic gently. Pour a tablespoon of olive oil here and add the minced garlic to sizzle for 30 seconds or so then mix thoroughly with the rice. It makes such a difference to the flavor and guarantees not to burn your garlic.
TASTE, TASTE, TASTE: When you are close to finishing the cooking, taste the risotto, you may find that you don't need to add any salt. The stock has salt already and so does your Parmesan cheese. I also used salted butter, so I did not need to add any salt.
WATCH IT LIKE A HAWK: Risotto is one of those dishes that needs constant attention, so make sure you prep everything beforehand and just stand there for 20 minutes stirring almost constantly whilst it's cooking.
Buon Appetito!
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