Risotto Rising

I’ve been on a risotto kick of late.

It happens from time to time: I make a dish I like so much I immediately want to try every possible iteration of it. For my mom’s 90th birthday last month, some family friends in Rhode Island sent us a crate of 10 lobsters to celebrate. So many lobster shells led to so MUCH fish stock.

This yielded a lovely follow-up shrimp risotto, followed by a scallop and pea risotto. Future plans for the several jars of stock currently living in my freezer include a clam and bacon risotto. Fall and risotto seem meant for each other.  

As the days get shorter the cocktail hour often collides with dinner prep. Risotto requires a lot of gentle stirring. There are few things more relaxing than listening to your favorite playlist with a glass of wine in hand, and tending to your risotto pan.

Plus, fall is the season for mushrooms and squash—two ingredients that seem made for risotto. Got a fennel bulb lying around you don't know what to do with? Fennel is also a great ingredient for risotto—as in this vegetarian recipe fennel and caramelized-onion risotto  or chopped and added for crunch and flavor to seafood variations. 

Of course, there’s plenty of kale at the market right now so why not give this creamy kale risotto a whirl?  (Harlem Valley Homestead is having a 20 percent off sale on kale bunches). Or you may want to use the last of the tomatoes to make this David Tanis tomato risotto. Or, since Wil-Hi Farm is here, why not try your hand at this lamb shank and mushroom risotto? Tivoli Mushrooms will be happy to be part of this dish.

Risottos require a little patience but they are not difficult. They are quite happy to be served with a market salad. Perhaps some slightly bitter treviso or radicchio leaves in that salad to tame the sweetness of many risotto dishes? Unless of course you’ve made this very traditional Venetian radicchio or red endive risotto. (Pro-tip— use red wine for this dish and watch your risotto veer a beautiful purple.)

Have a favorite risotto recipe? Please drop by the market tent to share it!

We are very happy to welcome a new food truck to the market this week: Scotty’s Egg Rolls. You can find them under the bridge.

See you at the market!