Risotto with maidenstears and ‘salamella’ sausage
Ingredients
(for 4 people)320 g ‘superfine’ rice
(e.g. Vialone Nano, Carnaroli or Arborio varieties)
300 g maidenstears (*)
80 g Torregio cheese
150 g ‘salamella’ sausage
1 l vegetable stock
90-100 g butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 garlic clove
12 tbsp oil
100 ml good quality white wine
whole sea salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
* ‘Maidenstears’ , or ‘Silene Vulgaris’, are known as ‘stridoli’ in the Italian region of Romagna. Throughout the rest of Italy, they have a number of names: Bubbolini, Carletti, Crepaterra, Cuïn, Erba del Cucco, Minuto, Schioppettini, Strigoli, Stringoli, Tagliatelle della Madonna, Verzuli, Grisol, Sclopit. ‘Salamella’ sausage is a mixture made from raw salami and is readily available from butchers in Italy.
Method:
Clean the maidenstears, break them up and sauté in 20 g of butter, 4 tbsp of oil and the unpeeled garlic clove. Lightly fry and then remove the garlic. After crumbling the salamella, add it to the maidenstears, sear slightly and then add the rice, previously toasted with 20 g of butter and 4 tbsp of oil.When everything reaches boiling point, simmer with white wine, add the shallots previously lightly fried in oil, and cook the rice by adding boiling stock.
When cooked, stir in remained butter and the grated Torregio cheese (for best results when grating, first cut the cheese into pieces and place in the freezer). Season with salt and pepper and leave to stand for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Tip: once you’ve sautéed the maidenstears, remove some and keep to one side until you add the butter and cheese. This will make your risotto greener in colour... and more attractive to look at!