The Bah Humbug Menu
I'm not huge on celebrations that involve gift giving (save birthdays which are unreservedly about the birthday person) and that includes Christmas. So! Needless to say, Valentine's Day is not big on my list at all. However, I thought that some sort of commemoration might be in order, even if it just ends up being an excuse to hang with my husband and have a good meal together - not something we often get the luxury of.
I guess that my lack of need for gifts on my anniversary, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Easter and Christmas should make me 'low maintenance' BUT let me assure you that I was totally serious about my birthday fixation - that day is ALLLL about the birthday person and in my case I have no problems requesting gifts from the likes of Tiffany's or Birks (see this years birthday request - doesn't mean I'll get it - that I fell in love with in the Birks window. The picture doesn't really do it justice though).
Ah, I digress, back to Valentine's day. I recently had a lovely meal, at one of my favourite italian resto's here in Toronto called 'Terroni', of spaghetti al limone. It was spectacular, creamy, cheesy (with Parmesano of course), infused with a perfect hit of lemon. This is what I want to make today! I'm winging it with a recipe here but I'm thinking that if I go with a kind of Carbonara based sauce and just use lemon instead of bacon then I should be on the right track at least. Well, that is until I changed my mind. I remembered (sometimes my brain does this at the right time, rather than about 5 hrs too late) that Derek usually prefers rice to pasta (a mild preference but it is Valentine's Day after all) so I decided to make it Lemon Risotto instead. I had seen a recipe in Nigella Lawson's 'Nigella Bites' and followed it loosely here. Although Risotto sounds finicky, it's actually pretty straight forward AND it's extremely flexible - vary the vegetables, add seafood, instead of using broth use wine... you get the idea.
Risotto al Limone
2 1/2 cups of Arborio rice (short grain Italian rice available at any grocery store these days - totally necessary for the creamy texture)
half a medium sized red onion (what I used but shallots would be even better)
1 rib of celery
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/3 cup butter (yes people Real butter - do not use margarine or some 'low fat' alternative PLEASE!)
few dashes of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
approx. 6 cups of broth (chicken or vegetable) already simmering or having just boiled (this is crucial)
juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup cream
1/2 - 3/4 cup Parmesan
salt to taste
dash of pepper
2 cups of baby spinach
Heat the broth and have it at the ready. Chop the onion and celery until they are almost mush. In a large pot melt about 1/2 a cup of the butter, reserving the rest for the end. Once butter is melted add the chopped vegetables and saute about 3-4 min. Add the garlic and saute another 2 min. Add the rice and olive oil, stir well to cover the rice completely with the butter and oil for just a minute.
Slowly, begin to add the broth in a ladle full at a time. The idea here is to keep the heat as steady as possible which is why hot broth being added slowly is essential. As each ladle full gets absorbed add the next (beware - you may need extra hot water just in case) and stir continually (this is really as complicated as it gets!).
Combine the egg yolks, cream, lemon juice, zest and parmesan cheese together in a small bowl. Once the rice is cooked to al dente (about 20 min but make sure you taste it) remove it from the heat and add the spinach. Mix well and let the spinach wilt. Once mixed add in the egg yolk mixture. Again, make sure that you taste check. At this point add in any extra salt or pepper that it might need as well as the remainder of the butter. The idea is for this to be creamy, almost like a savoury rice pudding!
I loved it and it tasted fantastic with the Rainbow Trout that Derek whipped up. This dish can definitely hold it's own but is fantastic with fish or seafood (of course you could also add it right into the Risotto to make life simpler. I would say that this would probably serve 6 as a first course or 4 if serving it as the only main course.
This is truly comfort food!!! Creamy, cheesy, lemony, YUMMY!
I guess that my lack of need for gifts on my anniversary, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Easter and Christmas should make me 'low maintenance' BUT let me assure you that I was totally serious about my birthday fixation - that day is ALLLL about the birthday person and in my case I have no problems requesting gifts from the likes of Tiffany's or Birks (see this years birthday request - doesn't mean I'll get it - that I fell in love with in the Birks window. The picture doesn't really do it justice though).
Ah, I digress, back to Valentine's day. I recently had a lovely meal, at one of my favourite italian resto's here in Toronto called 'Terroni', of spaghetti al limone. It was spectacular, creamy, cheesy (with Parmesano of course), infused with a perfect hit of lemon. This is what I want to make today! I'm winging it with a recipe here but I'm thinking that if I go with a kind of Carbonara based sauce and just use lemon instead of bacon then I should be on the right track at least. Well, that is until I changed my mind. I remembered (sometimes my brain does this at the right time, rather than about 5 hrs too late) that Derek usually prefers rice to pasta (a mild preference but it is Valentine's Day after all) so I decided to make it Lemon Risotto instead. I had seen a recipe in Nigella Lawson's 'Nigella Bites' and followed it loosely here. Although Risotto sounds finicky, it's actually pretty straight forward AND it's extremely flexible - vary the vegetables, add seafood, instead of using broth use wine... you get the idea.
Risotto al Limone
2 1/2 cups of Arborio rice (short grain Italian rice available at any grocery store these days - totally necessary for the creamy texture)
half a medium sized red onion (what I used but shallots would be even better)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/3 cup butter (yes people Real butter - do not use margarine or some 'low fat' alternative PLEASE!)
few dashes of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
approx. 6 cups of broth (chicken or vegetable) already simmering or having just boiled (this is crucial)
juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup cream
1/2 - 3/4 cup Parmesan
salt to taste
dash of pepper
2 cups of baby spinach
Heat the broth and have it at the ready. Chop the onion and celery until they are almost mush. In a large pot melt about 1/2 a cup of the butter, reserving the rest for the end. Once butter is melted add the chopped vegetables and saute about 3-4 min. Add the garlic and saute another 2 min. Add the rice and olive oil, stir well to cover the rice completely with the butter and oil for just a minute.
Slowly, begin to add the broth in a ladle full at a time. The idea here is to keep the heat as steady as possible which is why hot broth being added slowly is essential. As each ladle full gets absorbed add the next (beware - you may need extra hot water just in case) and stir continually (this is really as complicated as it gets!).
Combine the egg yolks, cream, lemon juice, zest and parmesan cheese together in a small bowl. Once the rice is cooked to al dente (about 20 min but make sure you taste it) remove it from the heat and add the spinach. Mix well and let the spinach wilt. Once mixed add in the egg yolk mixture. Again, make sure that you taste check. At this point add in any extra salt or pepper that it might need as well as the remainder of the butter. The idea is for this to be creamy, almost like a savoury rice pudding!
I loved it and it tasted fantastic with the Rainbow Trout that Derek whipped up. This dish can definitely hold it's own but is fantastic with fish or seafood (of course you could also add it right into the Risotto to make life simpler. I would say that this would probably serve 6 as a first course or 4 if serving it as the only main course.This is truly comfort food!!! Creamy, cheesy, lemony, YUMMY!
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About Me
- Wanda Thorne
- St Michael's Choir School is celebrating it's 75th anniversary year of service to St Michael's Cathedral. Part of the school celebration is a trip to Italy where our boys from Grades 5 - 12 will be performing and celebrating Mass. This blog will be chronicling our adventures. Wanda Thorne is the Vocal Coach at St Michael's Choir School. Gerard Lewis is the Grade 7/8 Homeroom teacher at the Choir School.
About Me
- Wanda Thorne
- St Michael's Choir School is celebrating it's 75th anniversary year of service to St Michael's Cathedral. Part of the school celebration is a trip to Italy where our boys from Grades 5 - 12 will be performing and celebrating Mass. This blog will be chronicling our adventures. Wanda Thorne is the Vocal Coach at St Michael's Choir School. Gerard Lewis is the Grade 7/8 Homeroom teacher at the Choir School.
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