Fennel Risotto with Prosciutto
A glorious, melt-in-your-mouth risotto using fennel and served with thin slices of prosciutto for a salty kick! I've been making this risotto for well over 10 years, and anyone who's tried it can't quite believe how good the humble fennel is!
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon good quality extra virgin olive oil
- 1 eschallot very finely diced
- 1 medium sized celery stalk very finely diced
- 1 large fennel stalks removed and very finely sliced (using a mandolin is ideal if you have one). Keep the stalks for your stock, remove the fronds (leafy bits) first and reserve for garnish.
- 2 water I find water results in a cleaner flavour, but you can also use a light vegetable stock if you prefer. I like to add the fennel stalks to the water, as noted above.
- 180 ml dry white wine I often use Vermentino, but any dry white is fine
- 375 g risotto rice arborio or carnaroli
- 25 g unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 50 g Parmigiano Reggiano finely grated, plus extra to serve
- 4 slices thinly sliced Prosciutto
Instructions
- On a low heat, add the butter and olive oil to a large pan, shortly followed by the eschallot and celery. Sauté for a few minutes before adding the thinly sliced fennel. Continue to sauté gently on a low heat for about 15 minutes, making sure that you don’t allow the fennel to brown – you just want to soften the vegetables as gently as possible. In another saucepan add your stock and leftover fennel stalks and place on a low heat.
- Back to the main pan, add 180ml of white wine and let that cook for a few minutes before adding in the rice. Stir well to coat the rice in all of the beautiful juices in the pan. After a minute or so the rice will start to turn opaque – indicating this is when you need to start adding stock.
- Add stock one ladle at a time, stirring frequently to help bring out the starch in the rice. Never let the rice completely dry out before adding your next ladle. Risotto is a labour of love, so prepare to dedicate the next 15-20 minutes to nursing and stirring. Continue adding stock by the ladle until the rice is cooked through and with a very slight bite to it. The consistency shouldn’t be gloopy or clumpy – you should be able to use a spoon to part the risotto and it quickly fall back together.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining butter and grated Parmigiano. Stir to combine, check for seasoning and leave to rest for a few minutes before serving. If you feel the risotto has stiffened too much over this time, add a half ladle of stock and stir through before serving.
- Serve in a shallow plate, letting the risotto spill out to cover the base. Add a couple of very thin slices of prosciutto on top of the rice. Scatter with fennel fronds and a dusting of grated Parmigiano.
