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Hello, this is Viviane with Food & Style welcome to my kitchen
I don't know about you, but I simply adore artichokes and today I'm going to make
a really scrumptious risotto with it
so let's get going
Viviane Bauquet Farre - foodandstyle.com
Artichoke risotto with lemon-herb pesto
now the first thing that we have to do for our recipe is actually a pesto
it's a lemon and herb pesto
we're going to be adding that at the end of the risotto, once we're finished
it's going to have a wonderful fragrance, of fresh herb
so the first thing here is to put
a little bit of fresh basil
a small bunch, about 2 ounces
you're going to put all of that in here
push the leaves in and remove the stalks
and then about six sprigs of Italian parsley
next will be a nice beautiful garlic clove
you're just going to remove the skin
and cut that end
and then put a little bit of lemon zest
and for that we're going to use a microplane grater; that's the tool I'm
using here
to grate just the zest of the lemon, without the pith
we want about one teaspoon
that's about it
it's a small lemon, so about 1/2 of the lemon will give you a teaspoon.
then we're going to add
to our pesto 3 tablespoons of olive oil
make sure you use nice, fruity,
extra *** olive oil.
Add 1/2 teaspoon salt.
once we have done that, you're going to close the Cuisinart
and turn it on
Let's open it and scrape the sides here
now you know, this is not a very rich pesto
there is no nuts or cheese in there
There's actually not much oil in there, either, because I don't want
the risotto to be too rich. I just want
these beautiful herbs
It's done.
So we're going to remove the blade
and then transfer this to a little bowl
And then cover it with plastic
update
I have a little trick--
what you do is
take your plastic wrap
and make sure that the plastic comes in contact with a sauce. This will actually
ensure that your pesto doesn't go brown.
We're going to put that in the refrigerator
until we're ready to use it.
Let's do our artichokes.
I'm going to talk a little bit about artichokes before I start.
This is a beautiful one.
I don't know who was the first person to discover that there was
something really yummy and delicious in there, because it certainly doesn't look too
friendly, does it!
The Greeks used to eat it, and probably others before the Greeks.
It's an ancient vegetable.
Before I show you how to get to the heart
I want to talk about how to pick an artichoke.
Squeeze it with your hands, like this, and make sure it feels
firm, not hollow.
It should be a little heavy for its size,
and the leaves should be beautiful and bright green. If there are brown spots on them,
that mean's it's a little too old.
What we're going to do first is bring a bowl of cold water
and that
lemon that we used for are pesto, we're going to
cut it in half
and juice it
and we're going to add this lemon juice to the water
and that is going to prevent the artichoke from getting brown while we're
prepping it. That's a very important step, so don't skip it!
Add this to the water
So the first job is to peel k
the leaves of the stalk
by bending them backwards
As you're starting to get
the first row of leaves
you're going to bend them backward using your index finger
making sure you leave that bottom part on the artichoke itself
There's all kinds of goodies in here; it's actually part of the heart
it's just as sweet as the heart
You see, the leaves are starting to get pale.
We're going to keep peeling until
they are very pale yellow
Just one more row.
I recommend using a serrated knife for this. You're going to slice it about
here
you wanna get that first two inches off
artichoke because those leaves are a little bit too stiff
And now we're looking at the heart, right here.
Now you're going to dip this into the lemon water
shake it well. And we'll begin our next step.
Cut the bottom
of the artichoke--the stem--off.
Save the stem for later.
The next step is to peel all the green parts
with a vegetable hand-peeler.
There's a beautiful, white
delicious flesh right inside those leaves.
Now,
we need to cut it in half through the center
and then in quarters
through the center
And add these to the lemon water.
and now
I'd like you to look at this
there is
an angle to the choke
and what we're going to do with a paring knife
is too actually
cut
along
that line at an angle
where the choke is
and then gently
pry it apart
removing it, and removing those
spiky little leaves in the center.
Next step.
Cutting
through the heart
in quarter-inch
slices
and adding those to the lemon water.
You're going to do this with three artichokes.
but I'm not done
because I want to show you the stalk.
if you look inside the stalk, it's white
and it is just as delicious and tender as the heart
You don't want to waste this.
so in the same fashion you're going to peel
your stalk
and trim
the leaves around here
and we're going to remove the green part. You see it's beautiful white
flesh right there
Now that we've done that, we're going to trim the bottom,
cut it in half lengthwise
and slice it
in quarter-inch slices.
You're going to add that to your lemon water.
We're ready to make our risotto
the first thing we want to do
is to actually make the broth that is going to
be our base for the risotto.
Use 3 1/2 cups of spring water
and then we're going to add three cups
of vegetable broth
I use one from a carton. This is an organic brand that's
wonderful
So, that's two cups, into the small saucepan.
And another cup
We're going to turn the stove on High
to warm it up.
Now, for our risotto pan. I want to talk about the pan for a minute
you want to have a pan with a very heavy bottom, and wide enough
to stir
Warm that pan on High
and you'll know it's hot when you touch the rim
and can't leave your finger there.
Put a quarter cup of olive oil
in the pan
And then
one medium red onion
finely sliced
stir well
and we're going to cook this for about
three minutes until the onion has wilted.
Next step
is to strain
the artichokes
Give it a good shake
we're going to add that to the pan. Stir that in, and we're going to saute these for 3-4 minutes
until the artichokes take on a little golden color.
Then, don't keep stirring. Just let them saute for
a minute or so, and *then* give it a good stir.
They're ready. Beautiful golden color.
Next step
Add some garlic
two cloves
finely chopped
and then we're going to add a cup of dry white wine.
and we're going to make a reduction
basically, this is going to glaze the artichokes
and the onions
with a wonderful sweet flavor
it's going to take about two minutes or so to reduce
and while this is happening, I want to talk about the rice that I'm going to use
By the way, the stove has been on High this whole time
And we'll reduce the heat once the reduction is finished
We'll get to that in a minute
Now, I'm going to talk about the rice for the risotto. Most
people know about arborio rice. That's
the stuff you find in most supermarkets.
But I like to use a rice called carnaroli
it's kind of the ferrari
of risotto rice
It's a little plumper of a grain
And that will allow it to get creamier and still retain its "al-dente-ness' in
the center.
That's why I love it so much.
Measure one cup.
This rice will drink a bit more of the liquid than
the arborio will.
Our wine is all gone.
We've got a nice glaze happening in the pan
So now we're ready to put in the rice.
This is a very important step
we're going to besauteing the rice
until the edges of the grains become translucent.
We want to do this for about a minute.
now we're also going to add
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
and some black pepper
As you can tell, I love black pepper.
Give it a good stir
we are ready for the next step which is going to be to start adding the liquid
for the risotto. Because the pan is very hot,
the first time we do this
we're going to add
two scoops of the liquid
about 1 1/2 cups
I use the ladle for that.
Now stir
At this point, decrease the heat
between medium-high and medium
so that we have a good simmer
but not too strong
Now, stir the risotto
until all the liquid has been asborbed.
Only then will you add more liquid. At the beginning, this will happen
very fast
as you see here
And as we cook the risotto,
it will happen a little bit less fast.
We're already ready for another scoop. At this time,
going forward
we're only going to add one scoop of liquid at a time.
The process of making the risotto: stirring, adding liquid until
the risotto looks dry, adding more liquid--
this will take about 20 minutes.
You don't have to be a slave to the kitchen; it's okay to leave it alone
for a minute sometimes.
Don't be too neurotic about stirring all the time.
I absolutely love to do this when I have company and friends, because
I give a glass of wine to everyone and we can hang around the kitchen. Some help
stir, and it makes for a very fun evening.
So, it's going to be about 20 minutes from now. We're going to show you
the status of the risotto so you'll get to see it from the beginning all the way
to the end. You're going to get to see how
the little grains of rice get all plump and beautiful.
They're starting to plump up.
I love making risotto!
It smells so good.
Our risotto is done. The grains are beautiful and fluffy
and yet you can still see a little bit of white in the center of each grain
and that means they are perfectly done. The next step is to put about 1/3 tablespoon of cold
butter
and 1/3 cup of freshly grated parmesan
and stir this as vigorously as you can.
Stir it with passion!
This will make your risotto taste better.
The butter is coating each grain of rice
and it making it even more creamy
You can even see it in the color.
It's gone a bit lighter and creamier
Now, turn off the heat
and for the last wonderful little addition here,
we're going to add our pesto.
We are done. Now, as you know
the risotto needs to be eaten
absolutely as soon as it's done. So I'm going to dish it right now.
This is the way you should do it when you have company.
Take a pasta bowl or soup bowl
and spoon it right in the center.
Put a little drizzle
of olive oil on top
and garnish it with
two sprigs
of chives.
Finish it with a little black pepper.
With a dish like this, we need a "gru-vee" wine, by which I mean a gruner veltliner.
It's a grape native to Austria
a premium gruner veltliner should be aromatic
with beautiful fruit and citrus notes, and a little bit of herbaciousness
which will complement our pesto.
And the crispness of this wine should be a wonderful contrast to the creaminess of the risotto.
So, if you like this recipe, and you want to see my other recipes and videos you can go to
my website, which is FoodAndStyle.com.
As always... Happy cooking!
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