Venice, the most dramatic and romantic of cities, also has a distinctive cuisine. Come to Venice for a holiday, or honeymoon, and you’ll find the freshest of seafood, rich risottos and vegetables such as artichokes that are grown on islands in the lagoon. This recipe for a delicious Vegetable Risotto comes from a sumptuous new book on Venice – Venezia: Food and Dreams by Tessa Kiros (pub. Murdoch Books, rrp £25), and appears here with permission.
Vegetable Risotto – Recipe
Risotto di Verdure
Ingredients – Serves 4
- 225g (8oz) asparagus
- 1.25 litres (44 fl oz/5 cups) hot vegetable broth (see below)
- 2 fresh artichokes
- Juice of half a lemon
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small white onion, chopped
- 200g (7 oz) zucchini (courgettes), sliced
- 150g (5 ½ oz) fresh or frozen peas
- 250g (9 oz) risotto rice
- 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) white wine
- 30g (1 oz) butter
- 3-4 tablespoons grated parmesan
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- Flour, for coating
- Light olive oil
- Handful of fresh mint sprigs
For the vegetable broth
- 1.5 litres (6 cups) water
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 small peeled white onion
- 1 large peeled carrot
- 1 thin-ish clump of parsley
- Any asparagus off-cuts
- 10 or so peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 1 peeled and squashed garlic clove
- 1 bay leaf
Method
To make the vegetable broth
- Put the water and all the ingredients into a large pan. Bring it to the boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
- Strain well, to make about 1.25 litres (5 cups).
To make the risotto
- Trim the asparagus and slice on the diagonal, leaving the tips whole. Add the trimmings to your vegetable broth as it simmers.
- To prepare your artichokes, trim away the outer leaves and cut a slice off the top. Halve the artichoke and remove the hairy choke if it has one, then cut each half into fine slices 4-5mm thick. (Keep them covered with cold water and a little lemon juice to prevent them turning black.)
- Heat the olive oil in a wide pot and sauté the onion until well softened. Add the asparagus, zucchini and peas and sauté on high heat for a moment to just take the flavours. Add the rice, turning it through so it is well coated with oil.
- Season with salt and pepper, then add the wine and let that bubble away. Add 500ml (17fl oz/2 cups) of hot broth, lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until much of the broth has been absorbed.
- Add another cupful of hot broth, stir in gently and then leave it to do its thing, adding another cupful of broth when necessary until the rice is tender and creamy (about 20 minutes in total). Don’t let it get so dry that you have to keep stirring.
- Remove from the heat, then mantecare (mix) by adding the butter, parmesan and parsley and stirring gently. Add salt if needed.
- Just before your risotto is ready, drain the artichokes, pat dry and pat lightly in flour on both sides. Use a non-stick pan that will fit the artichokes in one layer if possible. Just cover the bottom with oil and heat up.
- Add the artichokes and fry until golden and crisp on both sides. Lift out onto a plate line with kitchen paper to drain. Serve the risotto with a heap of hot fried artichokes on top, plus the fresh mint, extra parmesan and black pepper.
Rebecca Ford - I'm a UK based freelance travel writer and photographer - and the country I most like to visit is Italy. That's not just because of the ...
