Risottos fit in very nicely with our modern eating habits; they’re a sophisticated, continental take on a one pot wonder…but therein lies the problem, well for me at least. That one dish needs to provide me with all my carbs, protein, fibre etc and so I look for a balanced dish, whereas the Italians look for a balanced meal: a risotto minus the meat, fish, veg, bells and whistles to us seems incomplete, but to the Italians it’s only one part of the bigger picture.
Sensing I am not alone, I serve this risotto with pot roast chicken at the bistro, but a thick piece of cod would also work well. A few spinach leaves on the top, left to wilt over the heat of the rice would add another vegetable element and become a more balanced meal and I also griddle extra slices of aubergine to garnish the dish. Any number of herbs would work well too; rosemary, parsley, oregano…
The risotto starts off the same way as most risottos; garlic, onion, rice, wine, stock etc. The aubergine is baked separately, whole and in its skin until blackened and sagging, then its insides are scraped out and added to the rice at the half way stage along with the zest of a lemon and its juice.
Ingredients
(Serves 6)
2 x aubergine
4 x cloves garlic very finely chopped or crushed
2 x average onions (tennis ball size), very finely chopped
400g arborio rice
250ml white wine
800ml – 1L chicken or vegetable stock, preferably homemade
1 x large lemon, zest finely chopped and juice reserved
50g butter, in small cubes + a knob
150g grated parmesan
Preheat the oven to 200 ⁰C.
Prick each aubergine by stabbing several times with a dinner fork. Place on a roasting tray and bake in the top of the oven for 45mins – 1 hour, turning over half way through. Check the aubergine is soft at the stalk end, then transfer to a plate (they will leak their juices).
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a medium sized pan, along with a knob of butter.
Fry the onion together with the garlic over a lowish heat to avoid colouring the onion whilst it sweats. Meanwhile, reheat the stock until it’s piping hot – in a jug in the microwave is just fine.
Once the onion is soft and translucent, add the rice and mix the two together thoroughly, coating every grain of rice. Add the wine and increase the heat to medium.
Stir the rice frequently until the wine has been absorbed, then begin adding the hot stock, a cupful or so at a time.
Whilst that’s happening, split the aubergines in half lengthways and use a dessert spoon to scrape the flesh away from the skin. Discard the skin.
Keep adding the stock and stirring until you only have a quarter left, somewhere around the 20-minute mark. Test a little of the rice, it should still be quite al dente. Turn the heat down and add the aubergine, scraping in all the juice accumulated on the chopping board, the lemon zest and lemon juice.
Continue to stir the risotto and check the rice again. Once you are happy it’s still just al dente, add the butter and the parmesan.
Now check for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as necessary, and a splash more stock if the rice needs loosening a little. Serve immediately.