Treviso and broad bean risotto

[Kikujiro]

As I am getting lots of useful advice today, why not go the whole hog and run tonight's intended main by you? I came back from Borough with a bunch of vegetables, some of which will go into Italianate lukewarm starters and some into a salad, but I think I will use the trevise I bought, along with a jar of those Spanish Navarrico broad beans in brine, for a risotto. Now, trying an unpracticed recipe on friends is one thing but improvising it is even more risky. My main concern is that I haven't used these jarred broad beans before and am not sure how I should treat them v. fresh. Also whether this will end up too bitter unless i do something to the trevise tips first. Anyway, here is roughly what I intend to do. Is there anything you would do differently?

Finely chop trevise stems. Roughly chop tips (maybe burn them slightly on a ridged grill first?)

Blanch broad beans for 3-4 minutes. Drain (not too dry), add some butter, s&p. With hand blender, turn about a third of this to a rough paste.

Melt finely chopped red onion and celery heart in butter (maybe a crumbled red chilli or two in there). Add stems of trevise and and stir for a minute, then add broad bean paste and wait another minute or so before adding rice. Make risotto as normal (glass of white wine or prosecco; then thin Swiss marigold stock [so sue me]), aiming for soupy Venetian-type consistency (rice=vialone nano).

Stir in whole broad beans and most of trevise tips, a bit of chopped parsley, s&p. Scatter with remaining trevise tips to serve.

Edited December 21, 2002 by Kikujiro (log)

[Jinmyo]

I'd do a plain risotto first (sofritto, white wine). Do the manchetta (emulsifying with butter and parmesan). Then add the beans and treviso (prepared more or less as you would), tasting as I go. Or serve it plated with the risotto as a base, topped with the beans and treviso.

I wouldn't want big pot of bitter beans and rice.

[Kikujiro]

Jin,

Thanks. Would you not bother with any attempt to include the radicchio stems, then?

Edit addition: Most recipes I can find for a radicchio risotto put some in before the stock, though not always before the rice ...

Edited December 21, 2002 by Kikujiro (log)

[Jinmyo]

I'd perhaps use them as you'd thought out with the celery root and such as a foundation for the bean puree and whole beans and so on.

One thing. Do rinse those beans well and taste one. I don't know the product you're speaking of but I've bought lupini beans similiarly packed at a Bodega and found they needed to simmer for about 40 minutes.

ediot:

Without thinking, I typed "thought" without the "gh". Gh.

Edited December 21, 2002 by Jinmyo (log)

[Kikujiro]

One thing. Do rinse those beans well and taste one.

Whoa. Excellent advice. In this case, they're much softer than I expected. We might avoid the blanching entirely and just do them in the butter for a minute or two. We might also peel them if we're feeling energetic.

Just so I'm clear on what you're saying, you'd fry the treviso stems in butter as a foundation for the broad bean paste, rather than as a tack-on to the soffrito, and you'd add the paste at the end with the whole beans and the chopped leaves? (Course, you would also be using a wonderful stock, not the nasty cheat I am.)

Thanks for your help. This interactive cooking thing is fun. I must try not to get too much oil on the keyboard.

[Jinmyo]

Yes, I would.

Radicchio and treviso have done me wrong more often that not.

As for stock, use what you have. The more that you cook, the more that you learn to make use of discarded bones and skin and such, the more and better stock you will have.

[Kikujiro]

We'll do it your way then

edit: done you wrong through bitterness or otherwise?

Edited December 21, 2002 by Kikujiro (log)