Sagre #1 - Risotto Festival

Exciting news Oregano fans! This week marks the start of Sagre month! Sagre are Italian food festivals and there are several particularly delicious ones which are happening throughout May. To kick us off this week, we are starting with the Sagra del Risotto. (And I'm sure you can guess what this one celebrates!)

Food festivals in Italy normally coincide with the harvest time of a particular ingredient, though sometimes they are odes to whole dishes, as is the case with the Risotto festival.Held in Sessame in Piedmont on the first Sunday of May every year, this fabulous food festival has been going on since the 13th century! This year it is being held on the 3rd of May, and you can expect market stalls, music and - you guessed it - lots of lovely risotto!

Risotto is one of Northern Italy's finest dishes and is normally eaten on its own as a primo (the course between an appetiser and a main course). For those of you who don't know, risotto is a rice dish which is cooked in a broth until it reaches a creamy texture. Rice first came to Italy with the Arabs in the Middle Ages. Turns out, the humid Meditteranean climate is perfect for cooking short-grain rice, which is exactly what we use nowadays in risotto. Risotto was officially created in Milan. During the 200-odd year reign of the Spanish in Milan, rice dishes became something of a staple (which explains the similarities of risotto and paella).Slow-cooking too was a common cooking technique and so slow cooking+ rice+ regional spices led to Risotto Alla Milanese.

And there you have it! All you could ever want to know about risotto. Bet you understand now why it has a whole festival dedicated to it! Fancy some risotto yourself? Why not pop into see us at Oregano and try our Risotto ai Porcini or Risotto ai Frutti di Mare? 

Risotto Ai Frutti di Mare Recipe

Now, you might not know this but... IT'S SEAFOOD MONTH AT OREGANO. Ahem. So, we've decided to furnish you lovely people with a stunning seafood recipe that you can try at home! And it's a corker: Risotto Ai Frutti di Mare. Bursting with tasty seafood but truly simple to make, this refined dish will win you major points at your next dinner party/date night. 

Preparation and Cooking time - 60mins. 

Ingredients:

600ml              vegetable or fish stock

80ml                olive oil

45g                   unsalted butter

1                       small onion, chopped

250g                 Arborio rice

125ml              dry white wine

500g                 mixed seafood (preferably mussels, calamari and prawns)

65g                   chopped plum tomatoes

65g                   fresh parsley

2.5g                  chopped garlic

1 tablespoon  extra-virgin olive oil

70g                   freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional)

Method

1. In a small saucepan, warm the fish or vegetable stock.
2. Add the olive oil to a large saucepan, put on a low heat.
3. Add 35g of butter and the chopped onion. Sauté by stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes until onion is tender. There should be no colour or browning).
4. Add the rice and toast lightly for 1 minute without letting the rice or onion take on any colour.
5. Add the wine and cook until almost completely absorbed. 
6. Add enough stock so it's about 1cm above the rice and bring to a simmer. 
7. Cook the risotto for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice has absorbed some of the liquid.
8. Add the seafood and tomatoes to the pan and stir occasionally, until the seafood is cooked and the rice is al dente (firm to the bite) for a further 6 minutes. As the rice continues to absorb the liquid, add more as needed.
9. Remove the risotto from the heat and add the parsley, garlic, olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano (if you're using it) and the remaining butter. Stir well to release the starches and make the risotto creamy. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

And there you have it folks! A breathtakingly sophisticated dish, which requires nothing more strenuous than stirring! Got to love it...