Stinging nettle risotto rocks. It is the essence of “green,” and is super healthy, too.
What’s more, blanched nettles will keep their emerald loveliness even after a good 15 minutes of cooking, which makes a nettle risotto visually stunning.
The dish itself is pretty simple: Risotto rice, cooked nettles, butter, shallot, garlic, a little pecorino cheese and beef stock. The basic structure of this risotto holds with all sorts of variations. You could use a different grated cheese, such as parmigiana or a Greek mizithra. You can use onions instead of shallots.
You can switch out the nettles for spinach or any other delicate-leafed green (orach, chard or herbs work well). You can even use vegetable or chicken stock if you must, although the flavor will not be the same.
One thing you cannot switch out, however, is the rice. You absolutely must use short-grain rice to make risotto — long grain rice lacks the particular starch that sloughs off with constant stirring, and without it, you have no creaminess. No creaminess, no risotto. You can buy risotto rice in many supermarkets. Arborio is the most common.
You can use any spring green in this recipe. Nettles are the greenest, and most nutritious, but dandelions, spinach, curly dock, chard, amaranth or lamb's quarters are all good choices.
Depending what variety your nettles are, you will need four or five big tong-fulls of fresh nettles to get your cup of cooked nettles. Regular nettles (Urtica dioica) are more substantial than their daintier cousins, the dwarf nettle (Urtica urens) and retain more of their volume when cooked. I say tong-fulls because you do not want to pick up fresh nettles, as they will sting you. Thus the name. Get a large pot of water boiling and add a handful of salt.
Grab the nettles with tongs and put them into the boiling water. Stir around and boil for 2 minutes for dwarf nettles, about 4 minutes for regular nettles. Fish them out with a skimmer or the tongs and immediately dump them into a big bowl with ice water in it. Once they are cool, put them in a colander to drain. Get a cloth towel, like a tea towel, and put the nettles in it. Wrap one end of the towel one way, then the other end of the towel the other (like a candy wrapper) and squeeze out as much moisture as you can.
Chop the nettles finely — don’t use a food processor or you will get a mush. The finer you chop, the smoother your risotto will be. Remove any stray stems.
To make the risotto, heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large saucier or heavy pot set on medium-high. Wait until the butter stops frothing and add the shallot. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.
Add the garlic and the rice and stir to combine. Stirring constantly, cooked everything for a minute or so or until all the rice is well coated with butter.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt and your first cup of stock and turn the heat to high. Stir it into the rice. When it starts boiling strongly, turn the heat down to medium and stir often, at least every minute or so, until the rice absorbs the stock. Add a second cup of stock.
When the second cup is absorbed, add the nettles and the third cup of stock. Stir well to combine. Keep stirring constantly now to develop the creaminess in the risotto, and to distribute the nettles evenly. Let the stock absorb.
Taste the risotto, and add salt if needed. It may need that fourth cup of stock, as you want the dish to be loose, not firm. At any rate, you will need at least a little more stock to loosen the risotto for the cheese and the final tablespoon of butter, which you add now. Stir everything well and let the butter and cheese melt in the risotto for about 4 or 5 minutes, still stirring often. Serve at once.
Notes
If you have leftovers, you can add the risotto to a beaten egg, form into patties or balls, roll in breadcrumbs and fry in olive oil. It is delicious.
Pour in the wine and swirl the pan to coat all the grains and wait until it dissolves. Increase the heat to high, then pour in a few ladlefuls of vegetable stock and add in the Parmesan/ Parmigiano rind (cheese side down), stir. Add salt to taste and cook the rice for 25 minutes.
It's the simplest way of getting nettle into your body, but you can also cook it into larger dishes or even apply it topically if you have a skin irritation. Because the stings have to remain firm to cause the irritation, cooking the leaf instantly makes them safe – don't try to eat the leaf raw in a salad or anything.
Take your washed, dried wood nettles and, using gloves or tongs put them into a wide pan with a lid, add a little butter and stock, salt and pepper to taste. Cook, covered until the nettles are totally wilted and hot throughout, about 4-5 minutes, then drain and serve.
A hint of wine is often added after the rice to deglaze the pan, but the real star of risotto is the broth. While constantly stirring the rice, warm broth is added in, one ladle-full at a time. Over time, the rice absorbs the broth, releases its starches, softens, and creates that signature velvety texture.
According to Salvatore, it all depends on the ingredients. The chef prefers oil over butter (and oil works particularly well with seafood risottos), but butter is better for vegetable-based dishes like Rampoldi's black truffle with mushroom or mixed vegetable and ginger risotto.
At the first sign of nettles flowering and going to seed, you should stop picking the leaves – the plant starts to produce microscopic rods of calcium carbonate, which when absorbed into the body can interfere with our kidney function.
It is important to be careful when handling the nettle plant because touching it can cause an allergic rash. Stinging nettle should never be applied to an open wound. Because nettle can alter the menstrual cycle and may contribute to miscarriage, pregnant women should not use nettle.
In some cases, people may have a severe allergic reaction to a nettle sting.This complication can be life threatening and require immediate medical attention. The symptoms of a severe allergic reaction include: trouble breathing.
Sautéing – Sauté until they look fully cooked, usually about 5-8 minutes.Steaming – place nettles in a colander and steam for 5-10 minutes. The stinging substance in nettles (formic acid) is neutralized with heat and once it is dried.
Stinging nettle can be eaten on its own or as an ingredient in foods. Nettle leaves must first be cooked or steamed to destroy the hairs on them, which contain a number of irritating chemicals. Most medicinal uses of stinging nettle use more of the plant than you would typically eat.
Stinging nettle is high in amino acids, protein, flavonoids, and bone-building minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. Nettle contains vitamins and minerals that can help keep your bones strong (Gupta, 2021). Stinging nettle is one of the greatest sources of vitamin K.
We par cook it. We make the recipe without finishing it with cream or butter or cheese. We pour the hot risotto onto a sheet tray to cool quickly and then store it in a container. Once we are ready to serve, we reheat the risotto with a little chicken stock, and finish with cream, butter, and some parmesan cheese.
One of the most surefire ways to ruin risotto is by overcooking it. Like pasta, the rice should be al dente—just cooked with a little bite to it. If you can mold your risotto into a shape, you've cooked it too long. When cooking risotto on a stove top, taste it periodically to test its doneness.
Broth: Homemade chicken broth is always the best choice for flavor, but you can use store-bought chicken broth for convenience. Choose low-sodium broth and adjust the seasonings at the end.
They par-cook the rice, cool it and finish it to order. Basically, you prepare a batch of risotto as you would normally but leave out one third of the required stock, leaving the rice undercooked.
Add the Arborio rice to the onion and stir to coat the grains in oil. Add half of the stock to the pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Ensure it retains a constant heat and gently stir as it cooks – it should take around 20 minutes.
Cook your risotto on a low, simmering heat and add the stock gradually, one ladle at a time. This gives the rice time to fully absorb the liquid and flavours. Rushing your risotto will only ruin its texture. It's well worth the wait – rather than risking undercooked rice.
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