Spring Risotto

My friend Pam gave me the most beautiful cookbook for the holidays. It’s Lorenza De’Medici’s “Tuscany The Beautiful Cookbook”. This over sized book is filled with vivid photos and authentic recipes from all the provinces of Tuscany. Sunday night, my husband and I made Risotto All’Erbe (Risotto with Spring Greens). For this risotto you can use any spring greens available like swiss chard, spinach, chicory or arugula.

I cut the original recipe in half which made 6 good size servings. I also made a few substitutions based on what I had in my refrig and pantry.

Ingredients
4 cups of organic chicken stock
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ medium yellow onion finely chopped
1 pound of Swiss chard, with large stalk sections removed and chopped
1-1/2 cup of Arborio rice
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

This recipe is fairly easy to make. Heat up your stock in a small sauce pan and keep it at a simmer just below boiling.

In a separate large sauce pot or pan, heat up the oil and cook the onion and Swiss chard until the onion is slightly translucent. Add the rice and stir for a few minutes. You will see the rice turn slightly translucent as it begins to absorb the flavors of the onion and Swiss chard. Add one ladle of stock to the rice and stir. Once liquid is absorbed add another ladle and stir. Continue doing this until you have used all the stock or until the rice is fully cooked. It takes about 15-20 minutes. The last step is to stir in the cheese and add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

When I reheated this the next day, I simply added some stock to the rice and repeated the same process.