Latest news with #risotto
Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Times
Meloni ally whips up ‘rich risotto' to rival antifascist pasta
T wo staples of Italian cuisine — pasta and risotto — have once again become pawns in a century-old ideological row that has shifted the playing field of Italian politics from parliament to the kitchen. Giorgia Meloni's party is increasingly using food to broadcast national pride and political allegiance. Joe Formaggio, a restaurant owner and Veneto regional councillor for the prime minister's Brothers of Italy party, has created an 'anti-communist risotto', a creamy concoction with black truffles, that has rattled Italy's left-wingers who have long championed pasta as the food of the Italian worker. 'Friends sent me the propagandist images of leftists eating sauceless pasta … and I thought, 'we have to do something',' said Formaggio who was raised in the Veneto region's Berici hills that are famed for their truffle risotto. 'There's a difference between an insipid, sauceless pasta dish and a rich risotto with truffle that has now become the culinary symbol of anti-communism.'
The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rachel Roddy's recipe for courgette, goat's cheese and lemon risotto
As Venice braced itself recently for another wedding, I had been thinking back to last September, when Adriana and Thom exchanged vows in the cavernous cool of the boathouse belonging to Burano's rowing club. Following the ceremony, the double doors were opened wide, so friends and family could line the ramp all the way to the edge of the lagoon. There, standing majestically at the end of a green gondola, was Adriana's childhood friend Giulia, a champion of voga Veneta, or Venetian rowing, ready to take the couple to the other side of the island for lunch. While Giulia rowed Adriana and Thom around the island, the rest of us walked across it to Trattoria Da Romano, where Adriana's family have celebrated for lifetimes, and it was completely given over to our euphoric wedding party. I am sure I would remember all seven courses (several of which involved more than one dish) even if I didn't have the menu memento stuck to our fridge with a cat magnet. What I remember most vividly, though, is the fish risotto, because Adriana told me to get near enough the kitchen door to see how energetically the chefs beat it, and how soft and rippling the texture was. It was a perfect example of risotto all'onda, which means 'risotto with a wave'. It thickens during the passage from pan to plate, becoming dense and creamy and moving slowly in a sort-of ripple on the plate (I was really taken by the way the waiters tapped the plate to even out the rice). Seeing both the beating and the serving made me realise that I still have much to learn when it comes to getting the consistency right. For now, I find it helpful to think of the consistency as being closer to creamy porridge than to rice: loose but not soupy. With this in mind, this week's recipe is a novice risotto with courgettes, which is also helped by the addition of cream cheese. Serve immediately with very cold white wine. And, for afters, and also inspired by Adriana and Thom, a mixture of lemon sorbet, vodka and prosecco, AKA sgroppino. Serves 4 4 medium courgettes 1.6 litres vegetable brothOlive oil 30g unsalted butter 2 shallots, peeled and finely diced400g carnaroli rice 100g mild goat's or cream cheese 30g parmesan, gratedFinely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon Top and tail the courgettes. Grate two of them on the coarse side of a box grater, and cut the other two into thin slices with a mandoline or sharp knife. Pat the slices with kitchen towel, then rub with olive oil and cook on a griddle pan until tender and marked with lines. Cut the grilled courgettes into thin strips and keep warm. Put the stock in a pan at the back of the stove and bring to a gentle simmer. In a heavy-based wide saucepan, warm two tablespoons of olive oil and 10g of the butter, then gently fry the shallots until soft. Add the grated courgettes and move them around for a minute, then add the rice and stir so it clatters against the sides of the pan for two minutes – it should be glossy and glassy. Add a ladle of broth, stir until it's absorbed, then repeat, adding broth and stirring over a low-medium heat that keeps the risotto barely simmering, for about 17 minutes, until the rice is plump and the consistency is soft and rippling – like a creamy porridge, but not soupy. Take off the heat, beat in the butter, goat's cheese or cream cheese and parmesan, then stir or, better still, jolt the pan so the risotto comes up and over in a wave that mixes the ingredients and also loosens starch. Meanwhile, very quickly reheat the strips of courgette in a pan, then add the lemon zest. Divide the risotto between four plates, bash the sides of the plates so the risotto spreads, and top each serving with a little pile of grilled courgette strips.
The Guardian
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rachel Roddy's recipe for courgette, goat's cheese and lemon risotto
As Venice braced itself recently for another wedding, I had been thinking back to last September, when Adriana and Thom exchanged vows in the cavernous cool of the boathouse belonging to Burano's rowing club. Following the ceremony, the double doors were opened wide, so friends and family could line the ramp all the way to the edge of the lagoon. There, standing majestically at the end of a green gondola, was Adriana's childhood friend Giulia, a champion of voga Veneta, or Venetian rowing, ready to take the couple to the other side of the island for lunch. While Giulia rowed Adriana and Thom around the island, the rest of us walked across it to Trattoria Da Romano, where Adriana's family have celebrated for lifetimes, and it was completely given over to our euphoric wedding party. I am sure I would remember all seven courses (several of which involved more than one dish) even if I didn't have the menu memento stuck to our fridge with a cat magnet. What I remember most vividly, though, is the fish risotto, because Adriana told me to get near enough the kitchen door to see how energetically the chefs beat it, and how soft and rippling the texture was. It was a perfect example of risotto all'onda, which means 'risotto with a wave'. It thickens during the passage from pan to plate, becoming dense and creamy and moving slowly in a sort-of ripple on the plate (I was really taken by the way the waiters tapped the plate to even out the rice). Seeing both the beating and the serving made me realise that I still have much to learn when it comes to getting the consistency right. For now, I find it helpful to think of the consistency as being closer to creamy porridge than to rice: loose but not soupy. With this in mind, this week's recipe is a novice risotto with courgettes, which is also helped by the addition of cream cheese. Serve immediately with very cold white wine. And, for afters, and also inspired by Adriana and Thom, a mixture of lemon sorbet, vodka and prosecco, AKA sgroppino. Serves 4 4 medium courgettes 1.6 litres vegetable brothOlive oil 30g unsalted butter 2 shallots, peeled and finely diced400g carnaroli rice 100g mild goat's or cream cheese 30g parmesan, gratedFinely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon Top and tail the courgettes. Grate two of them on the coarse side of a box grater, and cut the other two into thin slices with a mandoline or sharp knife. Pat the slices with kitchen towel, then rub with olive oil and cook on a griddle pan until tender and marked with lines. Cut the grilled courgettes into thin strips and keep warm. Put the stock in a pan at the back of the stove and bring to a gentle simmer. In a heavy-based wide saucepan, warm two tablespoons of olive oil and 10g of the butter, then gently fry the shallots until soft. Add the grated courgettes and move them around for a minute, then add the rice and stir so it clatters against the sides of the pan for two minutes – it should be glossy and glassy. Add a ladle of broth, stir until it's absorbed, then repeat, adding broth and stirring over a low-medium heat that keeps the risotto barely simmering, for about 17 minutes, until the rice is plump and the consistency is soft and rippling – like a creamy porridge, but not soupy. Take off the heat, beat in the butter, goat's cheese or cream cheese and parmesan, then stir or, better still, jolt the pan so the risotto comes up and over in a wave that mixes the ingredients and also loosens starch. Meanwhile, very quickly reheat the strips of courgette in a pan, then add the lemon zest. Divide the risotto between four plates, bash the sides of the plates so the risotto spreads, and top each serving with a little pile of grilled courgette strips.
Washington Post
10-07-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Flamingos are stirring up trouble and ravaging rice for risotto in Italy's northeast
JOLANDA DI SAVOIA, Italy — An unusual pest is ravaging crops and irking farmers in northeastern Italy: the flamingo. Flocks of these relatively recent immigrants have set their hungry sights on the flooded fields that produce rice for risotto in Ferrara province, between Venice and Ravenna. The long-legged birds aren't interested in the seedlings; rather, flamingos use their webbed feet to stir up the soil and snatch mollusks, algae or insects from the shallow water.
Telegraph
03-07-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Pressure-cooker chicken and chorizo risotto
This simple and fail-safe method uses the classic combination of chicken and chorizo for a flavoursome, creamy risotto. The texture may seem a little soft when the pressure is first released but the rice will quickly absorb any excess liquid. Plus 15 minutes press building time
