Sardinia / Sardegna Risotto Sardo Allo Zafferano

Sardinia / Sardegna

I apologize that I have been away for so long. I have been extremely busy at work and haven’t had the time to post anything new for quite a while now. Things have slowed down a bit, so I wanted to share a recipe with you that hails from Sardinia.

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the 20 regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia, and immediately south of the French island of Corsica.

The recipe is called Risotto Sardo Allo Zafferano, which translates to Sardinian Risotto with Saffron.

This is an unusual type of risotto because the Sardinian people do not cultivate large quantities of rice. Saffron grows in abundance on the island but, is not often used in the local cuisine, although this is a traditional dish from the region.

Ingredients:

• 11 ounces ripe plum tomatoes that have been peeled

• 3 ounces lard which will be used to brown the meat

• 1 large onion finely diced

• 11 ounces pork shoulder cut into small cubes

• 2 ounces dry white wine

• A pinch saffron threads soaked in ¼ cup of warm water

• 7 cups pork stock, if you don’t have pork stock you can substitute chicken stock or vegetable stock

• 3 cups arborio or carnaroli rice, these are both short grain rice’s that have a high starch level

• 1 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place a pan of water on the stove and bring to a boil. While waiting for the water to come to a boil prepare an ice water bath.

Remove the core end of the tomato with a small knife and cut a small x in the other end of the tomato. Place the tomatoes in the boiling water for about 30 seconds. The skin will begin to separate from the flesh. Plunge the tomatoes into the ice bath until cool enough to handle and remove from the ice bath. You can then easily remove the skins from the tomatoes. Set them aside for use later.

Heat the lard in a heavy bottom pan and add the chopped onion. Cook over medium heat until soft. Do not allow the onion to brown. This stage of cooking should take about 10 minutes.

Next, add the cubed pork to the softened onion and begin the browning process. Add the white wine to the browning pork a little at a time to prevent scorching and sticking.

Chop the peeled tomato into fine cubes and add to the pan with the onion and pork mixing everything well, add the saffron threads and the saffron water to the mix.

Simmer gently adding small amounts of hot stock to the pan a little at a time and continue to cook until the pork is fork-tender. This should take about 30 minutes.

When the meat is ready add the rice to the pan and stir making certain each grain of rice is thoroughly coated.

Continue adding hot stock a ladle at a time to the pan constantly stirring. When the liquid is almost absorbed add another ladle and continue stirring. Continue this process until the rice is cooked to an al dente state. The rice should have developed a creamy texture but still have a bite in the center.

Season the risotto with salt and pepper. Go light with the salt as you will be finishing with pecorino cheese which can be salty as well.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the pecorino cheese stirring until it is completely integrated into the risotto. Taste and adjust the salt if needed.

Serve the risotto in warmed pasta bowls and garnish with grated pecorino cheese and fresh basil leaves.

Thank you for stopping in. Enjoy your Risotto Sardo Allo Zafferano!

I will see you soon.

Until then, alla prossima!

Buon cibo e buon appetito a tutti!!

Chef John