Risotto is delicious but must be eaten right away or it will stick together. For Shabbat, Italian Jews prefer "Pilaf" Rice (cooked in the oven), or Rice Salads, which are especially nice in the summer.
This is a non-traditional recipe (avocado and locks are not classic Italian foods!) that I came up with one day when there was little left in my refrigerator and I HAD to get creative... but everybody loved it, and it remains my favorite. It looks pretty, works great as an appetizer or a one-course meal, and is super-healthy!
INGREDIENTS (serves 6 to 8)
1 lb 'Carnaroli' type Italian Rice
4 cups water
3/4 teaspoon Salt
4 tablespoons extra-virgin Olive Oil (I prefer a more delicately flavored oil like a Ligurian or Tuscan for this recipe)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (if you are using concentrated juice and not fresh, use less)
1 and 1/2 ripe Avocado
8 oz. Smoked Salmon (or Locks)
1 tablespoon fresh Dill (or Chives), finely chopped
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Cook the rice in 4 cups of salted boiling water. Drain and spread over a wide platter. Allow to cool.
While it's still warm, dress with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Let it cool completely in the refrigerator, covered.
At least one hour before serving, add the dill or chives and the chopped salmon, and dress with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and lemon juice (taste for salt and add more if needed). Peel and dice the avocado, sprinkle it with lemon (to prevent it from oxidizing) and add it to the rice salad.
This is a non-traditional recipe (avocado and locks are not classic Italian foods!) that I came up with one day when there was little left in my refrigerator and I HAD to get creative... but everybody loved it, and it remains my favorite. It looks pretty, works great as an appetizer or a one-course meal, and is super-healthy!
INGREDIENTS (serves 6 to 8)
1 lb 'Carnaroli' type Italian Rice
4 cups water
3/4 teaspoon Salt
4 tablespoons extra-virgin Olive Oil (I prefer a more delicately flavored oil like a Ligurian or Tuscan for this recipe)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (if you are using concentrated juice and not fresh, use less)
1 and 1/2 ripe Avocado
8 oz. Smoked Salmon (or Locks)
1 tablespoon fresh Dill (or Chives), finely chopped
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cook the rice in 4 cups of salted boiling water. Drain and spread over a wide platter. Allow to cool.
While it's still warm, dress with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Let it cool completely in the refrigerator, covered.
At least one hour before serving, add the dill or chives and the chopped salmon, and dress with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and lemon juice (taste for salt and add more if needed). Peel and dice the avocado, sprinkle it with lemon (to prevent it from oxidizing) and add it to the rice salad.
The usual preparation for risotto, adding hot broth a little at a time releases so much starch that the rice must be eaten right away or it will clump. This pilaf version, on the other hand, can be prepared in advance and reheated, and is a traditional Friday night dish of Sephardic origins in both Venice and Ferrara. This dish can be made Parve, Dairy, or Meat.
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
1 quart hot vegetable or chicken stock
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 small packages of saffron powder, or a few stems
2 cups Carnaroli type rice (or you can use long grain)
½ cup of plumped raisins (OPTIONAL)
½ cup dry white wine
salt to taste
Preparation
1. Bring the stock to a boil and leave it to simmer on the stovetop
2. Heat the olive oil in an oven-proof pot (non-stick or cast iron), add the onion and 2 tablespoons water and cook for 10 minutes on low heat.
3. Stir in the rice and cook, stirring, until all the grains are coated in oil and “toasted”
4. Pour in the wine, raise the heat and cook till the wine has evaporated.
5. Stir in the raisins, previously softened in hot water, if using.
6. Stir in the saffron, revived in 2 tablespoons hot water.
7. Pour in all the hot stock and stir.
8. As soon as the stock starts simmering again, cover the pot and transfer to a 350 – 375 F oven where you will leave it alone to cook for exactly 18 minutes.
9. Take the rice out, add another couple of tablespoons of olive oil of “oil from a roast beef”, stir, and add salt if needed.
Let it rest covered for another 10 minutes. It can be eaten right away or reheated for Shabbat.
10 - If the rice was made with vegetable stock and will be used in a dairy meal, you can add some Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
1 quart hot vegetable or chicken stock
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 small packages of saffron powder, or a few stems
2 cups Carnaroli type rice (or you can use long grain)
½ cup of plumped raisins (OPTIONAL)
½ cup dry white wine
salt to taste
Preparation
1. Bring the stock to a boil and leave it to simmer on the stovetop
2. Heat the olive oil in an oven-proof pot (non-stick or cast iron), add the onion and 2 tablespoons water and cook for 10 minutes on low heat.
3. Stir in the rice and cook, stirring, until all the grains are coated in oil and “toasted”
4. Pour in the wine, raise the heat and cook till the wine has evaporated.
5. Stir in the raisins, previously softened in hot water, if using.
6. Stir in the saffron, revived in 2 tablespoons hot water.
7. Pour in all the hot stock and stir.
8. As soon as the stock starts simmering again, cover the pot and transfer to a 350 – 375 F oven where you will leave it alone to cook for exactly 18 minutes.
9. Take the rice out, add another couple of tablespoons of olive oil of “oil from a roast beef”, stir, and add salt if needed.
Let it rest covered for another 10 minutes. It can be eaten right away or reheated for Shabbat.
10 - If the rice was made with vegetable stock and will be used in a dairy meal, you can add some Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
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
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
