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Risotto Primavera
We don’t know for sure how rice made its way to Italy, if through the Arabs of Sicily, the Crusaders, or Venetian merchants (or all of them independently).
In any case, after its arrival it was considered for centuries not a food, but a costly medicinal spice used for making digestive teas. In the fourteenth century the use of rice started expanding to desserts, but it was still uncommon and imported from abroad. Its cultivation was forbidden, due to the fear of diseases like malaria, linked to stagnant water. It took a long series of famines and the devastation caused by the great plague (1348-1352), which almost exhausted the production of traditional staples (spelt, millet, barley, etc), to persuade the local governments to invest in the production of this new cereal, which in Asia was already the main source of nourishment for millions of people.
Together with corn and potatoes – which were introduced after the discovery of the Americas – rice was critical to the rebuilding of human life and activities in Europe after the tragedies of the late Middle Ages. By the end of the fifteenth century its cultivation was blossoming, especially North of the Po river, in the Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto regions. It’s not clear at which point someone came up with the idea of cooking rice with the patient and gradual addition of hot liquid, resulting in “al dente” grains enveloped in a mouthwatering, thick starchy sauce that gives the illusion of cream. In any case, once risotto was invented, it became to Northern Italy what pasta was to the South: the signature recipe that could make any ingredient, from vegetables to fish, from meat to cheese, into a perfectly satisfying meal!
Ingredients
- (serves 4-6)
- ½ large onion or 1 shallot, chopped
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 to 1 ½ pound total mixed spring vegetables diced (such as carrots, zucchini, peas, green beans, and if liked artichokes and asparagus)
- Salt and pepper
- 2/3 pounds Italian rice (Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone)
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 to 2 qt hot vegetable broth
- 3-4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup (or to taste) grated Parmigiano or Grana cheese
Directions
Dice all the vegetables into small pieces (max 1/3”). If using artichokes, keep them in a bowl of water acidulated with lemon juice.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat; add the onion and cook for 3 minutes, stirring.
Add the vegetables (except for the asparagus tips), and cook for 2 minutes.
Stir in the rice, and add the white wine.
Let the wine evaporate completely as you continue to stir.
Start adding the hot broth one ladleful at a time (the rice should almost absorb all the broth between additions), and cook the rice, stirring continuously.
After about 10-12 minutes add the asparagus tips, and keep cooking until the rice is al dente and the mixture still moist and creamy (cooking the rice takes between 18 and 30 minutes, depending on the type).
Stir in the butter and allow to rest covered for 3 minutes. Adjust the salt, stir in the cheese, and serve
https://dinnerinvenice.com/2011/05/29/risotto-primavera/
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