
It's farmer's market time again. My own tomato plants are starting to bear fruit (sadly my heirloom jalapeno plants appear to have been eaten away to nothing by ants), and for the past few months I've been collecting my weekly selection of goodies from a local farm. This week our box contained corn, green tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, zucchini, summer squash, garlic, and green beans. I've also received some vegetables that I'm not as familiar with - kohlrabi and fennel.
Fortunately, with each week's collection, we get a newsletter telling us about the harvest and sharing some recipes, so I'm never at a loss for what to make. Last night for dinner we had chicken and sundried tomato sausages, with corn on the cob, and sauteed chili squash.
Over the next few weeks I've be sharing various vegetable recipes that we've tried, using some of our farm goodies. I'm kicking us off today with
Italian Fennel and Onion Risotto. This recipe was from a colleague who lives in Italy and shares some wonderful traditional recipes. Neither Nic nor I was sure about a risotto with fennel but we were very pleasantly surprised.
1 cup Arborio rice (you can use regular long grain rice for risotto but you really do get much better, more authentic results with Arborio)
6 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 fennel bulb, white part chopped
1 1/2 cups peas
1/4 cup fresh basil, leaves torn into pieces
few pieces of the fennel fronds
1/2 cup white wine
6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup pecorino Romano cheese
2 tbs butter
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan(again, the real thing tastes so much better than the shredded stuff in a shaker, and a little goes a long way because it has such a strong flavor)
Simmer the chicken stock in a large pan with the basil and fennel fronds.
In a large skillet, heat 3 tbs of the olive oil. Add the onions and fennel. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes on a medium low heat, allowing the vegetables to soften. Remove from heat and put to one side. Add the remaining olive oil to the skillet, heat for 30 seconds and add the rice.
You want to toss the rice so that it is coated with the oil. return the fennel and onions to the pan, along with the wine, which you want to reduce down to about 1/4.
Add some of the stock. Let it simmer and add more stock as the liquid level reduces. After about 15 minutes, add the peas, and continue to add the rest of the stock.
When it's nearly all absorbed, add the butter and the pecorino cheese. Stir them in well to add a creaminess to your risotto. Remove from the heat and serve, topped with parsley and Parmesan.