Last Sunday we were lucky to enjoy a lovely Easter dinner. Even though it was only the four of us around the table, we ate a good meal and tried to focus on what we had (our health, each other, a comfortable home, food on the table) instead of what we were missing (friends, a visit from my family, an Easter week beach trip, freedom to go places and do things outside the house). One thing we had in spades was ham. In my desperate attempt to keep the holiday celebration "normal" (what ever that is anymore), I was determined to get lamb or a ham for dinner. The only thing I found that could be delivered in time was an enormous 10 1/2 lb brown sugar spiral sliced ham. I ordered it knowing it was way too much for us and that we would be eating ham from now until Christmas. There'd be so much left over, it would be Hammageddon for the O'Malley family. We each ate a couple slices for dinner Easter night, and I saved the rest, a bit in the refrigerator and the majority of it in the freezer. This week, I've only used the refrigerator leftovers, and we've already made hot ham and cheese sandwiches, ham and cheese quesadillas, ham and potato hash with fried eggs, ham salad on crackers, and this little beauty: Risotto Primavera with Ham.
Creamy dreamy risotto
Primavera means spring in Italian. Anytime you see a dish with that moniker it means it will be chock full of the best of the season's produce. It was ubiquitous in the late 80s as every restaurant seemed to offer a lackluster version of pasta primavera on their menu. But done well in a creamy risotto, and bolstered with the rich porky goodness of ham, a primavera dish can take on other worldly attributes.
A little bowl of happiness
The key to making a good risotto is three fold: #1 - use a starchy short grain rice like arborio (which I used here) or carnaroli and toast it in fat with aromatics before you start adding your stock, #2 - make sure your stock is hot before you start and only add it in in small doses, and #3 - stir, stir, stir and keep stirring until you can't stir any more. I don't add any cream to my risottos and get the super creamy texture just from stirring the rice constantly. If you do it right, you can made the dish vegan and still get a luxurious texture. You can't walk away from it, and that's not a bad thing. I use my risotto stirring time to drink a glass of wine and listen to music. It only takes about 20-25 minutes, and the process is honestly therapeutic.
In this recipe, the carrots are finely grated (leftover from the carrot cake recipe) and added to the simmering stock, not with the onion at the beginning or the peas at the end. They infuse the stock with a rich golden color and soften just enough to bring out their sweetness without making them mushy.
Risotto Primavera with Ham (serves 4-6)
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 scallions, chopped, green and white parts
1 1/2 cups arborio or canaroli rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken stock, heated and kept warm
1/2 cup finely grated carrots
1 cup diced ham
1 cup peas (if using frozen, they can go in cold)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Heat butter and olive oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Add yellow onions and scallions and cook until softened. Add rice and stir to coat in mixture. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add wine to deglaze the pot. Cook down until no more liquid is in the pot. Begin adding the warm chicken stock, a ladle at a time (about 1/2-1 cup at a time) and stir constantly. When the liquid is completely incorporated, add the next ladle of stock. Keep adding the stock and stirring until it is incorporated until the rice is al dente and creamy. After the last addition of stock, add the ham and peas and warm thoroughly. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with additional parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper.
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