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Newsletter and recipe archive
RISOTTO WITH SPINACH AND HERBS This easy and tasty risotto makes a nice winter supper. I'd serve it with a salad made of raddicchio, endive, celery, and a few sliced Kalamata olives. Just remember this month's letter - good ingredients! Use great olive oil, real arborio rice, and the best parmesan cheese, and you'll make a fabulous dish. If you don't have spinach on hand, you can substitute chard. For an interesting variation, some sautéed mushrooms can be added with the spinach.
1 Tbs. olive oil Heat the olive oil and the butter in a large non-stick sauté pan and sauté the red onion, garlic and green onions in it, stirring often, until the onions begin to color. Bring the vegetable broth to a simmer, and keep it hot in a covered saucepan. Add the rice to the onion and garlic mixture and stir it over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the wine and keep stirring as it cooks away. Then add the chopped or sliced spinach, the parsley and the oregano. Gently lift and turn the rice and spinach together for 2-3 minutes, until the spinach wilts. Add a soup ladle of the hot broth and stir it gently into the rice, keeping it just at a simmer. When the liquid is nearly all absorbed, add another ladle. Continue this way, adding a little broth at a time and stirring constantly, or very frequently, with a wooden spoon, until all the broth is used and the rice is al dente, about 20-25 minutes. A slightly creamy sauce should form around kernels that are no longer crunchy, but still firm. When the rice has achieved the perfect tender-firm texture, squeeze in a few drops of lemon juice, stir in a last bit of broth and the grated Parmesan cheese, and taste. Correct the seasoning with another drop of lemon or a bit of pepper if needed, then serve at once in heated shallow bowls, passing additional Parmesan cheese and some toasted pine nuts to sprinkle on top. Serves 6.
SPICY SQUASH AND GINGER SOUP There is no chile in this soup - the spiciness comes entirely from the fresh ginger. It's the soup equivalent of an old-fashioned gingersnap. If you want a more delicately flavored soup, simply use half the amount of ginger. No, you can't use powdered ginger. I made this soup with Tahitian squash, and it was wonderful. But Tahitian squashes take 11 months to mature, so I imagine they're scarce in Vermont, and some other places with shorter growing seasons. A good, sweet butternut squash should do very well.
2 lbs. Tahitian or other sweet winter squash, trimmed weight 2 large yellow onions Peel and seed the squash and cut it into 2" cubes. You should have two pounds of squash after discarding the rind and seeds. Peel the onions and cut in large pieces. Scrub the potatoes and cut in 1" pieces. Toss the vegetables together with the olive oil and salt, and spread them on two baking sheets. Roast the vegetables at 400 degrees for half an hour, stir them up, and put them back in the oven for another twenty minutes at 375 degrees. Everything should be tender, and browning on the edges. Put the roasted vegetables into a soup pot with the water, vegetable broth, fresh ginger, cilantro and rice vinegar. Simmer everything together for about half an hour, then puree the soup in a blender, in several small batches, and return it to the pot. Season the soup with the lemon juice and honey. Taste it and adjust the seasoning if necessary - squashes can vary enormously in sweetness. Bring the soup back to a simmer and serve. A spoonful of cream or a few sprigs of cilantro would make a nice garnish for this.
Serves 6-8.
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