Spring Vegetable Risotto

Blogging Marathon# 64: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: Cook from 1 European Cuisine -- Italian

Dish: Spring Vegetable Risotto

We are on to our second week of blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is to 'Cook from 1 European Country' and I picked Italian cuisine. When I think of Italian food, pizza and pasta are the first to come to mind. But there is so much more to the world of Italian cooking. The many regions in Italy have distinctive cuisines based on the local ingredients available, cooking styles and eating habits.

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For the first day, I have this Spring Vegetable risotto. Risotto is a north Italian rice dish that is cooked in broth to a creamy consistency. Arborio, Carnaroli etc are the principal varieties of rice used to risotto. These are high in starch, round medium or short grained white rice -- they have the ability to absorb liquids and release starch, so they are stickier than the long grain varieties.

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Spinach Artichoke Lasagna Rolls and Chocolate Risotto.... and a GIVEAWAY!

Can't believe holiday season is almost upon us and I'm very happy to be a part of Colavita and Perugina 'Join our Italian holiday Table' campaign this year. They sent me a large variety of their products including olive oils, crushed tomatoes, marinara sauce, artichokes hearts, olives, lasagna, arborio rice and some absolutely delicious Perugina chocolates. One of you lucky readers will also receive the same amazing products -- scroll down to the end of the post for more details of the giveaway.

Colavita is a family owned company and they have been importing and distributing Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil for over 30 years. Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil is recognized as the #1 Italian brand in the US and has earned awards from renowned cooking publications such as Fine Cooking and Cook’s Illustrated and general-interest magazines like Men’s Health. Perugina is Italy’s most renowned chocolate maker and Baci are Perugina’s most famous confection. Baci (which means “kisses” in Italian) are perfect as an ingredient in recipes, as a daily indulgence or as a gift for a loved one.

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Indian Flavored Risotto (Vegan Recipe)

Finally spring seems to have found its way into our neck of woods. I can see the tiny buds on trees and hopefully they'll bloom within a week now. Somehow spring makes me very happy -- everything is waking from a long slumber and with the harsh winter that we had even people seem to be coming out of hibernation -- I mean the heavy jackets, boots and so on.

Today, I'm excited to share with you a dish that is colorful and springy (??) and is inspired from a dish off a specialty menu at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas.

I've never been to Vegas and it is one of the destinations on my bucket list. My ex-manager had a condo in Vegas and she used to take a yearly vacation there. I always thought Vegas was all about the casinos until she told me there are many things to do with kids too like hiking, sight seeing etc.

Vegas is a foodie heaven with plethora of restaurants to dine at and a lot of them fine dining with exquisite menu options. So today I'm trying to put my own spin on one of the dish based on Wynn's specialty menus created by famous vegan chef Tai Ronnen.

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Chocolate Risotto

Chocolate Risotto:
This chocolate risotto is creamy and absolutely divine. Unlike making traditional risotto which involves a lot of stirring, this dessert is mostly hands free. Arborio rice is cooked in milk along with vanilla until tender and then chopped Perugina dark chocolate is stirred into it to make the most luscious chocolate risotto ever.

Recipe is from Giada's cooking show. She flavored her 'Chocolate Rice Pudding' from orange zest, but I used vanilla bean. Orange and chocolate is a lovely combination and I would probably try this pudding with Perugina Orangello dark chocolate next time I make it. I topped the pudding with some chopped Baci and it provides nice nuttiness to the otherwise creamy texture.

Prep Time - 10 minutes

Cook time - 30 minutes
Chill Time - 2 hours

Total Time - 2 hours 40 minutes

Serves - 4

Ingredients:

• ⅔cup Colavita Arborio Rice
• 4½cups Milk (2% or whole milk is best here)
• ⅓cup Sugar
• 1 Vanilla pod, seeds scraped
• 1tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa powder
• 2oz., Perugina 51% Premium Chocolate, grated
• 2 Baci, chopped (for garnish)

Method:

1. In a saucepan, combine arborio rice, milk, scraped vanilla bean and the vanilla pod. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
2. Add the sugar, cook till it melts and the mixture thickens a little bit, about 5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder and grated chocolate. Mix well until the chocolate is melted.
4. Cool for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Chill for 2~3 hours before serving and garnish with chopped Baci.

Baked Risotto with Butternut Squash & Kale

Blogging Marathon# 27: Week 3/ Day 7
Theme: Seasonal Dishes - Winter Entree
Dish: Baked Risotto with Butternut Squash & Kale

Winter is not one of my favorite seasons. But over the course of last 10 years, I've started to appreciate the holiday spirit and the festivities that winter brings. I still don't like snow and shoveling. Winter means cozying up in the house with a big bowl of soup and a chunk of bread. But winter also brings the much awaited holidays and tons of yummy and sometimes not so healthy food.

Today I have a risotto recipe that is much easier and faster to make when compared to the traditional stirring method, all you have to do is par-cook the rice on the stove top and then bake it off in the oven until rice is tender and cooked through.

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Pressure Cooker Curried Butternut Squash Risotto

Hope everyone celebrating Thanksgiving had a good time this weekend. 4 day long weekend flew right by. We spent most of the weekend at my cousin's place and returned home in the afternoon today. We were hungry from the long drive and I wanted to make something real quick with minimum effort. So I made this one pot pressure cooker risotto with butternut squash from Nupur's blog.

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