RISOTTO WITH RED CHICORY APPLE, PECORINO CHEESE AND ORANGE ZEST

Copies are never totally authentic. Obviously. And one wonders if there is still something truly authentic, created ex nihil. This risotto with rd chicory, apple, pecorino and orange – as happens with almost everything when it’s about cooking – is not.
It is an interpretation, an invention, almost a copy starting from the one enjoyed in yesterday’s lunch in a place in the mountains near my house that stole a piece of my heart. The inspiration is like this:

the emotions aroused by that stuff you are experiencing at that moment, you like it so much that you want to bring a piece of it, assimilate it and reproduce it whenever you like.

The risotto I tasted tasted good and genuine, no artifice to hide, cover up, smooth out the flavors of the ingredients that made it up. They were good quality rice grains, red chicory – crunchy and not -, melting apple slices here and there. Cheese cubes bring joy to the palate, one forkful yes and three no, so that – at the peak of desire given by their scarcity – another came into the mouth. Pecorino and orange perfume then chased each other on the track of my tongue dancing a samba between peaks of flavor and penetrating sweetness.

In short, today I will tell you about a vegetarian risotto that keeps the spirit high without weighing it down, the perfection for a regenerating break from work. With its strong, sincere and concise flavors, without frills or tame, it would also awaken Psyche, better than the kiss of Eros.
You just have to try it.

RISOTTO WITH RED CHICORY, APPLE, PECORINO CHEESE AND ORANGE ZEST – the recipe

INGREDIENTS (SERVE 4 PEOPLE)

• 280 g of Carnaroli or Vialone Nano rice
• a head of red chicory
• 20 g of red onion
• an apple
• 150 ml of white wine
• vegetable broth q.s.
• 100 g of dairy cheese
• 60 g of pecorino cheese
• extra virgin olive oil and butter q.s.
• salt, ground black pepper and grated Parmesan q.s.
• half an organic orange zest

METHOD

1. Chop the onion, fry it in oil and butter. Then toast the rice for a few minutes and blend it with the wine. Wet with a ladle of boiling broth and cook over medium heat.
2. Wash, remove the core and cut the apple with its peel into very thin slices. Add them to the rice.
3. Wash the red chicory and cut it into small pieces. Add them gradually to the risotto, several times, as to maintaining different consistencies when the risotto is finished. Continue cooking the rice adding the broth as needed.
4. Cut the dairy cheese into half-centimeter cubes and grate the pecorino.
5. Once the rice is cooked, turn off the heat and stir in the pecorino cheese and a few spoons of butter. Then add the diced dairy cheese.
6. Serve with a pinch of orange zest, black pepper grounded and grated Parmesan cheese to taste. Enjoy!