Be brave

A few weeks ago I got my copy of The Silver Spoon. You've heard me talk about it already, so I won't go into it again. But tonight, I ventured into the first recipe!

When I first opened the book, the first recipe that JUMPED OUT AT ME was....

Blueberry Risotto!

There really were no words for my curiosity....reading the recipe shows that it is clearly a savory dish, but really, Blueberries????

So tonight, I give you Blueberry Risotto from The Silver Spoon!

RISOTTO AI MIRTILLI
Serves 4
About 6 1/4 cups Vegetable Stock
3 TB Butter
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Cups risotto rice
3/4 cup white wine
1 3/4 cups blueberries
Scant 1/2 cup light cream
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, to serve

Bring the stock to a boil. Meanwhile, melt the butter in another pan, add the onion and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until softened. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly until the grains are coated with butter. Sprinkle in the wine and cook until it has evaporated. Set aside 2 TB of blueberries and add the remainder to the pan. Add a ladleful of the hot stock and cook, stirring, until it has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, and stirring until each addition has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 minutes. When the rice is tender, stir in the cream and transfer to a warm serving dish. Garnish with the reserved blueberries and serve with Parmesan.

This is right after I added the blueberries and before any of the stock has been added.

The finished product. The photo really doesn't do it justice, but out of 35 photos, it's the best I could get for you. The others were gray or out of focus.

NOTES:
That's the recipe as stated in the book. Plain and simple. I did cut the recipe in 1/2, as it was just the two of us tonight. Please note that "Risotto Rice" is Arborio Rice. Can you use another rice for risotto, read this for the answer.

Arborio rice as I prepare to make the risotto

I didn't have cream, or milk, so I added a little marscapone cheese, thinned with water...it's what I have! Did it work, I guess.

VERDICT:
This was good. But I have to say...this is a dish were the quality of your ingredients is VITAL! I swear by swanson's low sodium chicken broth for many dishes. Including risotto. I just don't have the time, nor the energy to make chicken broth all the time. This recipe called for vegetable stock and as I was very last minute in preparing this tonight, I didn't have much to make a vegetable stock, so I used a swanson's can vegetable stock and a cube of vegetable boullion. I just thought the flavor was to manufactured and unpleasant. It ruined the whole risotto for me. Now, having made this once, per the instructions, I have no objections to making this with chicken stock, I don't see any reason not to.

OK, overall though, this was good and interesting....it was blue~~!


BLUE!