barbhealy

Renart, do you have a recipe for the Hawaiian Pulled Pork you're willing to share? It sounds delicious and I just bought some alalea salt.... Thanks, Barb

← LOL! Pontormo, you must have more clout with Beatrice than I do because I DID ask and was told, "No, they didn't have any recipes specifically for pestelli." So, thank you for using your influence! I added the book to my list of things to track down and will try the risotto with herbs and lemon rind next.... THANK YOU!!!! Barb

Well, I finally made the Risotto All'Isolana using leftover pork loin (brined in milk and sage and then grilled) and it was absolutely delicious! The cinnamon takes it from good to sublime and we will definitely be making it again! Thank you!

Thank you! I've already printed out the recipe on your site and was going to try it tonight. I just noticed these is a recipe on the side of the bag the rice came in, with mushroooms, but it's in Italian! I should be able to decipher it using bablefish....and DH will be out of town on Monday so I'll give it a try! Thanks again,

Divina, your site was one of the ones I found in my search for Risotto All'Isolana! Florence is my favorite city on earth - you are so lucky to live there.... I boomarked your site for our next trip. Barb ← p.s. I did go to Gabrielle Ferron's site the the only recipes in English were the three that Franci recommended, none of which specifically listed PESTELLI as the rice required.

Thanks, Russ. But, as I've said in my previous posts, I am familiar with regular vialone nano! I'm looking for recipes/advice for vialone nano PESTELLI which is DIFFERENT than vialone nano in that it's hulled with pistons and is coarser than normal vialone nano. The recipes Franci recommended come closer to what I imagined would work with this grain but none of them list PESTELLI specifically as an ingredient.... I'm still hoping that someonw who has cooked PESTELLI will share their experiences....

Divina, your site was one of the ones I found in my search for Risotto All'Isolana! Florence is my favorite city on earth - you are so lucky to live there.... I boomarked your site for our next trip. Barb

Franci, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I finally found a site with all three of these recipes in English: http://italianfood.about.com/library/rec/blr0063.htm risotto recipes Although I've JUST found this site and haven't tried the recipes, they all sound delicious! Thanks again! Barb

I have used the regular vialone nano extensively but I've had no experience with the "pestelli" version which is hulled using pistons, or pestelli, and - as you say - has a coarser, heartier grain than the vialone nano that is generally available. I chose the recipe I did because of it's similarity to risi e bisi and it was good but I don't think it highlighted the unique characteristics of the rice. The link you sent was very informative but they, too, do not mention pestelli! My hope was that someone who has experience with this rice would share some of their 'war stories'. My husband won't eat mushrooms or seafood so perhaps the best way for me to prepare it is simply with an assertive cheese, like taleggio or fontina. Barb Healy www.ooakfolk.com

I just bought some of this rice from www.gustiamo.com and have looked EVERYWHERE for a recipe! After searching this site and reading all the other threads on risotto (which, incidentally, resulted in what DH termed 'my best risotto yet') I found references to it ("it will take longer to cook and taste better") but no recipes. In desperation, last night I decided to try using it in a 'regular' risotto recipe and chose 'Pancetta, Tomato, and Peas' from Judith Barrett and Norma Wasserman's RISOTTO, my favorite risotto cookbook. I suspect that something with mushrooms would work better with the rustic rice but DH won't eat them. It was our meal. No other meat or vegetable was served. I used a very light chicken broth as the liquid. The rice required a bit more liquid than the recipe asked for and it did take slightly longer to cook than superfino arborio. It had more "tooth" and was a bit less creamy with very distinct grains. The color is also richer. DH proclaimed it a success - not better or worse than risotto made with arborio or carnaroli but different. In his words, it was "company fare", worthy of serving to guests, but not as good as the 'best risotto yet'. That one was Risotto con Fagioli, also from the above mentioned book. I had suggested making the same recipe using this rice but he wanted to try something new so the comparison isn't really fair. He LOVES beans! Anyway, we will definitely be cooking this rice again, but....I was wondering whether anyone had recipes or cooking tips specifically for it. I have at least 25 Italian cookbooks, including The Silver Spoon (the italian joy of cooking) but not one of them even mentions this rice. Barb Healy www.ooakfolk.com

Why don't you just eat at IKEA? I've never had them, but their cinnamon rolls smell delicious!

So, in the butt half, is the meat more juicy and tender as you go up or down the bone?