First courses
Risotto with maidenstears and ‘salamella’ sausage
* ‘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.
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
