The question at our house last week was how to revive our flagging interest in cauliflower. I’ve been gardening forever, but I still haven’t learned that when you plant a dozen cauliflower seedlings at once, they all mature at once. I wasn’t sure I could get another cauliflower risotto past my husband unless I changed it up. So I did. With a little digging online, I turned up a new method that produced the creamiest risotto I’ve ever made. The truffled pecorino I had in the fridge put it over the top. I knew I’d nailed it when my husband amped up his usual praise—from “this is good, hon” to “this is really good, hon.” I couldn’t agree more.
Read moreRisotto Meets Burrata
I have been making zucchini risotto forever but had never thought to plop a piece of burrata on top until I saw such a dish on Principato di Lucedio’s Instagram. This historic farm in Piemonte grows fabulous Carnaroli rice—I visited years ago—so the Lucedio Instagram is a rich source of risotto ideas. The zucchini risotto was photographed at Balin a restaurant near the farm, and the chef used stracciatella, not burrata. But stracciatella is the creamy filling inside burrata, and burrata is easier to find. It’s zucchini season. It’s cherry tomato season. What are you waiting for?
Read moreDon’t Throw That Away!
One of my first jobs in the food world was working for a French pastry chef. I was just the cashier for his bakery, but I hung out in the back a lot. The best lesson I learned from Marcel was not to waste. He would use his thumb to scrape the last drop of egg white out of the egg shell. (“That’s the profit,” he would tell me.) No wonder I never throw away chard stems or Parmigiano-Reggiano rinds. The cheese rinds add body and flavor to bean soup, and I’ve recently learned that they make amazing stock.
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