Memories of Amalfi Risotto

I have a subscription to Rachael Ray’s Everyday magazine.  Every month I look forward to the day that I open up my mail box and see the new issue there waiting for me.

Unfortunately, in the last year, there’s been two instances where that never happened.  What happened to those lost issues?  Did they fall victim to some postal system conspiracy?  Were they not allowed across the border?  We’ll never know.

But I do have a theory.

See, sometimes I get mail that belongs to a lady that lives in the same numbered apartment as me, but in a completely different apartment building on a nearby street.  I always give her mail to the super so he can give it to the postman/woman, who can then deliver it to its rightful recipient.

Who’s to say that this doesn’t happen the other way around?

Maybe this lady (who I picture as a little old lady) received my mail by accident, and since it was such an awesome magazine, decided to keep it for herself.

So when I kept waiting for my issue to show up this month, I thought that this was maybe what happened.  Then I went online to leave a customer complaint, only to realize that this time my missing issue was due to the fact that my subscription had run out.

Woops.

So much for conspiracy theories.

But the real question is, why didn’t they send me a renewal notice to prevent this from happening?

Anyway, so I had to buy the June issue from the store, and I’m so glad I did!

In the 30-minute meals section I found this recipe for Amalfi-style risotto, and I instantly wanted to try it.

Last September when I was in Italy, I went to the Amalfi coast and fell in love!  Hands down, Positano, a little town nestled into the Amalfi coast with the cutest brightly colored buildings, was my favorite part of the whole trip.

I didn’t actually eat any risotto when I was there, but I’m thinking what makes this risotto Amalfi style is the lemon.  Southern Italy is all about the lemons.  And know what you can make with lemons?  Limoncello.  I did see lots of limoncello and lemon souvenirs being sold when I was in Positano.  And I did go to a real lemon farm.

So make this risotto and dream of Italy’s beautiful coastline!  I know I did.  And it was good.

Memories of Amalfi Risotto

(slightly adapted from Rachael Ray)

serves 3

 

900 ml chicken stock

2 tbsp olive oil

2 large shallots, finely chopped

2 large cloves garlic

1 cup arborio rice

Pepper

3/4 cup white wine (I used Pino Grigio, because that’s what I like to drink)

1 lemon, zest and juice

1 tbsp butter

1/2 cup parmesan, grated

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/4 cup fresh tarragon, chopped

 

Heat chicken stock in a small pot over low heat.  You want it warm, but not boiling.

 

Heat olive oil in a pan on medium heat.  Add shallots and garlic, stir and cook for about two minutes.  Add the rice, stir, cook for about a minute.  Season with pepper.  Add the wine and lemon zest, and stir until the wine is absorbed into the rice.  Add the stock, about a cup at a time (I just used the measuring cup I used to measure the rice with to scoop the stock out with).  Make sure to stir well until liquid is absorbed into the rice, then add some more stock.  Keep adding stock and stirring until the rice is al dente (about 18 minutes).  I had a little bit of stock left over at the end that I didn’t need to use.

 

Remove from heat.  Stir in butter, then lemon juice.  Add cheese and herbs and stir to combine.