Now that we’re shedding our winter coats and embracing a new season, a longing for lighter, brighter, fresher foods also emerges. This delicious salmon risotto, spiked with fresh herbs and lemon, is a perfect Springtime meal! As with any risotto, it requires attentive stirring while adding broth in small increments. Other than that, though, it’s easy to prepare.

The recipe calls for ricotta salata, a firm cheese similar to feta but not as tangy or salty. DO NOT buy regular creamy ricotta cheese. If you can’t find ricotta salata, substitute feta or Parmesan cheese. Also, the dish calls for Arborio rice, a starchy, short-grained rice that gives risotto its creamy texture. 

Enjoy!

Risotto with Salmon, Lemon, Fresh Herbs, and Ricotta Salata
-recipe from Salmon: A Cookbook by Diane Morgan

Fresh herbs, a touch of lemon, and a sprinkling of ricotta salata cheese enhance the delicate flavor of salmon, making this dish outstanding and colorful. Serve this as a main course with simple accompaniments such as steamed or roasted asparagus, or a salad of field greens with radicchio, along with a crusty baguette.

Cook’s Note: Ricotta salata is a pure white, firm, rindless cheese that originated in Sicily but is made in the United States as well. Made from lightly salted sheep’s milk, it is aged for a minimum of three months. It has a nutty, sweet milky flavor and is ideal for grating, slicing, or crumbling. Use it in salads, on pizzas, and especially in pasta and risotto dishes.

Serves 4 as a main course.

5 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup diced white onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1½ cups Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine
1 salmon fillet (12 ounces), skin* and pin bones removed**, cut into bite-sized pieces
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 ounces ricotta salata cheese, crumbled (or substitute feta or parmesan cheese)

In a 2-quart saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer. In a heavy 4-quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic until translucent but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir until the grains are well coated with oil, about 1 minute. Add the wine, let it come to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until most of the wine evaporates.

Add ½ cup of the stock or broth to the rice and cook, stirring frequently, until the rice has almost completely absorbed the liquid. Adjust the heat so the risotto is kept at a slow simmer. Repeat, adding ½ cup of the liquid at a time, stirring until it is almost fully absorbed before adding more. Reserve ¼ cup of the liquid for adding at the end. After about 18 minutes, the rice will be plump, creamy, and cooked through but still slightly chewy. Stir in the salmon and the remaining ¼ cup of the stock or broth. Stir gently until the salmon is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and fresh herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon the risotto into warmed shallow bowls. Garnish each serving with some of the cheese and serve immediately.

*Skinning a salmon fillet: Lay the salmon fillet skin side down with the tail facing you. Grip the tail with a piece of paper towel, or you can put a little coarse salt on your fingertips to create traction. Using a sharp, flexible boning knife, angle the blade towards the skin and, while you are gripping the tail skin with one hand, cut along the skin as smoothly as you can. Cut all the way from the tail to the head end, keeping the skin taut. Discard the skin.

**Removing pin bones: Run your fingertips along the flesh side of the fillet until you feel the pin bones. Using either clean needle-nose pliers or fish tweezers, grasp the end of each bone and pull it straight out and away from the flesh to remove it. If you try to pull them upwards or backwards it tends to tear the flesh.

Tags: Arborio rice, rice dish, ricotta salata, risotto, salmon, salmon risotto

Recently, I was looking for carrot recipes and ran across this one for Caramelized Carrot Risotto. Since roasted carrots are one of my favorite winter side dishes and risotto is my favorite rice dish, I knew I had to make this recipe. While not a quick dish to make, it is definitely comfort food. The flavors are simple, mild and perfect for springtime. Husband called it Creamy Goodness…I totally agree!

Caramelized Carrot Risotto
-recipe from Sunset Magazine

It’s made the traditional way, but this risotto hits some extraordinary flavor notes, mainly because of two not-so-common risotto ingredients. One is creamy sweet mascarpone cheese. The other is carrots, slow cooked in a butter-oil bath until their sugars caramelize.

Note: To make this risotto even prettier, you can cut the carrots into 1/4-in. dice (it’s time-consuming, but makes the carrots look like little jewels). Mascarpone — a rich Italian-style cream cheese available at specialty, gourmet, and Whole Foods stores — can be replaced with an equal amount of heavy cream.

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings as a side dish or first course

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
6 medium carrots, peeled and chopped as finely and evenly as possible (about 3 cups; see Notes)
About 1/2 tsp. salt
1 teaspoon sugar
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup minced onion
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese (I used heavy cream)
1/4 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese, plus 1/2 cup for garnish
1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus 1 tbsp. for garnish
1 teaspoon roughly chopped fresh thyme
1/8 teaspoon white pepper

Heat 1 tbsp. oil and 1 tbsp. butter over medium heat in a medium heavy-bottomed pot; add carrots and stir with a wooden spoon until well coated. Add 1/2 cup water, 1/2 tsp. salt, and the sugar; cover and cook 5 minutes, or until tender. Uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until water evaporates and carrots are just starting to brown, a few minutes more. Reserve half of the carrots. In a blender, purée other half with 3/4 cup hot water.

Bring chicken broth to a simmer and keep at a simmer, covered, over low heat.

Heat remaining oil and butter over medium heat in same (unwashed) pot used for carrots. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add rice, stirring with a wooden spoon to coat rice with oil, 1 minute. Add wine and cook, stirring, until wine evaporates. Add carrot purée and cook, stirring, until mixture no longer looks soupy.

Add 1/2 cup hot broth, stirring often, until rice absorbs most of the liquid. Repeat process, adding 1/2 cup broth at a time and stirring often till each addition is absorbed before adding the next, until rice is al dente (about 20 minutes; at least 1 cup broth will remain).

Fold in reserved carrots (save 2 tbsp. for garnish), mascarpone, 1/4 cup parmesan, 1 tbsp. parsley, and the thyme. Add up to 1 cup broth (1/4 cup at a time) to loosen the risotto. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

Sprinkle each bowl of risotto with some of remaining 1/2 cup parmesan, remaining 1 tbsp. parsley, and reserved carrots. Serve immediately.

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Tags: Arborio rice, caramelized carrots, Italian, rice, risotto, vegetarian

If you like mushrooms, you’re going to LOVE this risotto! Like all risotto recipes, it does take some effort but, boy, is it worth it: it’s hearty, earthy and delicious!

I basically followed the recipe with a few minor substitutions. I used turkey Italian sausage and substituted Marsala wine for the Madeira. For the mushrooms, I used 6 oz. portobello, 8 oz. crimini and 4 oz. shiitake…a total of 18 ounces. I sauteed the onion and garlic in 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of butter instead of a whole stick. If you can’t find Asiago cheese, just use Parmesan. A drizzle of truffle oil would put this risotto over the top!

Italian Sausage and Wild Mushroom Risotto
-recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine from Tuscany, Salt Lake City, UT

At the restaurant, this dish is served as a starter. It would also make a great main course for four. Makes 8 first-course servings.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound Italian sweet sausage, casings removed, crumbled into 1/2-inch pieces
8 ounces portobello mushrooms, stemmed, dark gills scraped out, caps diced
10 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, diced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 1/2 cups Madeira (I used Marsala)

6 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (I used 1/2 stick, or 4 tablespoons)
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups arborio rice or other medium-grain rice (about 13 ounces)
1 cup freshly grated Asiago cheese

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and sauté until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add all mushrooms, thyme, and oregano and sauté until mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup Madeira; boil until almost absorbed, about 1 minute. Set aside.

Bring stock to simmer in large saucepan; remove from heat and cover to keep hot. Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add rice; stir 2 minutes. Add remaining 1 cup Madeira; simmer until absorbed, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup hot stock; simmer until almost absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook until rice is just tender and mixture is creamy, adding more stock by cupfuls, stirring often and allowing most stock to be absorbed before adding more, about 25 minutes. Stir in sausage mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowl. Pass cheese separately.

Tags: arborio, Asiago cheese, chicken broth, Italian, italian sausage, Madeira, Main Dish, Marsala, onion, oregano, portobello mushrooms, rice, risotto, shiitake mushrooms, Side Dish, thyme, wild mushrooms

In my book, risotto is comfort food…kind of like mashed potatoes or mac & cheese. I love just about any version of this creamy rice dish. One night recently when Husband was busy and the kids were engrossed in a movie, I decided to make some risotto just for me.

I took stock of what I had on hand and decided to make Fresh Corn Risotto, which is basically just arborio rice (a starchy, Italian short-grain rice), corn and a few other simple ingredients. Seeing as we’re at the end of January, I substituted Trader Joe’s Frozen White Corn for the off-the-cob variety (way out of season). I waited on adding the thawed frozen corn until the very end of cooking, stirring it in to the risotto then adding the butter and Parmesan cheese. Now if you’ve never made risotto before, you have to know that this is not a dish you can multi-task with. You pretty much have to devote the time to standing at the stove while you stir the rice and add the stock. It’s not difficult but it does demand your attention. A steaming bowl of hot risotto is worth every ounce of effort, in my opinion, and this Friday night corn risotto did not disappoint.

Fresh Corn Risotto
-recipe from foodandwine.com

SERVINGS: 6

6 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
1 1/2 cups arborio rice (12 ounces)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup white corn kernels (from 2 ears)
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil with the bay leaf. Keep the stock warm over very low heat.

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring until opaque, about 3 minutes. Add the white wine and cook, stirring, until completely absorbed, about 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the warm stock and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until nearly absorbed. Continue adding the stock 1 cup at a time and stirring until it is absorbed
between additions. After about half of the stock has been added, stir in the corn, then add the remaining stock. The rice is done when it’s al dente and creamy, about 25 minutes total. Stir in the cheese and butter; season with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf and serve.

Tags: corn, rice, risotto