Foodie Thursday

Eilen leivottiin ja kokattiin kummitätini kanssa, ja pikkuiset serkkuni luonnollisesti avustivat kykyjensä mukaan. Eilisessä Hesarissa oli resepti parsarisotolle, ja kummitätini halusi sitten kokeilla reseptiä heti paikalla. Minä ja serkkuni sitten leivoimme unelmatorttua, tosin täytteenä oli vaniljarahkakermaseos. Molempien lopputulokset olivat herkullisia, ja olin niin täynnä että hyvä että pystyin liikkumaan. Hyvä ruoka on kyllä todellista arjen luksusta!

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Yesterday my aunt and I were baking and cooking, and my little cousins were assisting as much as they could. We found the recipe for the asparagus risotto with scallops and parma ham in the morning paper, and my aunt wanted to try it out that very day. I and my cousins baked a dream roll cake, although this time we filled it with a mix of vanilla custard and whipped cream. Both the risotto and the roll cake came out wonderfully, and in the end I was so full that I practically couldn't even move. Good food is truly an every-day luxury!

Since I couldn't find an English version of the recipe, I translated it for you English readers so you can try it out as well:

Asparagus-risotto with scallops and parma ham slices

Ingredients:

For the risotto:

250 grams of white asparagus

250 grams of green asparagus

2 shallots

50 grams of butter

5 dl of risotto rice

1 dl of white wine or sparkling wine

1 - 1,5 liters of the water used to boil the asparagus/chicken broth

a pinch of salt and white pepper

50 grams of grated parmesan

3 table spoonfuls of mascarpone cheese

3 table spoonfuls of parsley in thin shreds

125 grams of parma ham

For the scallops:

12 (frozen) scallops

a pinch of salt and white pepper

oil

(do not use extra virgin olive oil!!)

Instructions:

If you're using frozen scallops, let them defrost in the fridge. 

Dry off the scallops on both sides with a paper towel and put them back to the fridge to wait.

Prepare the parma ham slices, by laying them (one by one) on a baking tray. 

(don't forget to put some baking paper on it!)

Let the ham dry in the oven (100 degrees Celsius) for a little over an hour till the ham is crispy.

Prepare the risotto:

Start by preparing the asparagus: cut the hard wooden ends off and peel the white asparagus.

Slice the asparagus to small slices of roughly 2 cm and boil them in a large amount of water with a small pinch of salt and sugar in it till the asparagus is done but still al dente.

Chop the shallots and glaze it soft in the butter.

(use a saucepan or some other pan with edges as you will be preparing the risotto in this pan)

Add the rice and keep on glazing for couple more minutes till the rice becomes slightly see-through. Add the wine and let it all be absorbed into the rice and shallots.

In a separate kettle heat up the chicken broth, or use the asparagus water if it isn't too salty.

Add the hot broth to the risotto one scoopful at a time.

Let the scoopful be absorbed into the rice before adding a new one.

Stir the risotto constantly.

The risotto will take 15-18 minutes to cook.

The rice should remain al dente and the risotto's structure should be porridge-y.

In the end add the asparagus and let it heat up.

While the risotto is cooking, spice up the scallops with a little salt and pepper.

Fry them on a hot (!) pan so that both sides get a beautiful golden brown color.

(DO NOT OVERCOOK!! Fry the scallops quickly on both sides: 

they are done once they lose their translucency and turn opaque!)

Keep the scallops warm.

Add the parmesan, mascarpone and parsley into the risotto.

Scoop some risotto on each plate, add a couple scallops and decorate it with the crispy ham slice.

Enjoy!