I never finished putting up my Italy trip report. I probably never will. Just too busy to do it justice. If you wanna hear about it, email me, this is an open invite for dinner at my house.
I've been suffering from a crazy migraine post running the NYC Marathon (oh yeah, I ran the NYC marathon), and still have it...but needed some comfort food if I wasn't hitting the cocktail bar tonight. So, in Top Chef style, we raided the fridge-freezer-cabinets for some ingredients to throw something together. I'm the self proclaimed risotto king, and we had some sweet italian sausage in the freezer...some San Marzano cherry tomatoes we bought by accident collecting dust in the cabinet...and enough vermouth left for a martini, and for some risotto. The basil plant will likely die in the frost tonight too. Here's my recipe. It came out awesome. I don't know why more restaurants don't serve food like this.
Timko's Tomato Sausage Risotto
1 cup of arborio rice
1 quart or so of chicken stock (I used beef, its all I had, better than bouillon to be exact)
2 big links of sausage (whatever that equates to weightwise)
14oz can of peeled tomatoes, with the juices
1 cup of vermouth (or white, or red wine)
1 onion - minced
3 cloves of garlic - minced
1tblspn tomato paste
Some fresh Basil
1 cup or so of fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
some olive oil
Some oregano
1. Heat up the stock to a simmer. Put some oil in a pan on mid-high, and crumple the sausage in and brown it good. Take sausage out.
2. Throw onion in, and cook it down but down let it turn brown, when it's about to, toss in the garlic.
3. Throw in the rice and 'toast' the rice for a few minutes, it should smell, nutty.
4. Toss in the tablespoon of tomato paste and mix it all in, for about a minute or two then deglaze with the vermouth/wine being sure to scrap up any crispy bits from the sausage browning.
5. Toss can of tomatoes in with the juices, and if you want, the sausage (I did, or you can throw it in at the end too) and a ladel full of the hot stock in, stir and wait until the rice drinks it all up...then keep repeating adding ladelfuls until rice is how you like it, keep heat at a low simmer. I tossed in about half a teaspoon of oregano too and some S&P to taste.
6. Take off heat and Toss in the cheese and stir.
7. Serve with some fresh basil on top. 
Timko's Tomato Sausage Risotto
Friday, November 6, 2009
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4 comments:
Well done. I'm going to give this one a whirl at some point.
As for the migraine - my wife swears by this aromatherapy ice compress thing she has. Not sure where she got it, but I figure any cold compress could do.
Question: what kind of cookware do you use when you make your risotto? I use my saute pan, but the last time my rice was slightly underdone. Wonder if my pan of choice had anything to do with it...curious to know what you use...
I use this pan, or my le crueset dutch oven. http://rtimko.smugmug.com/Food/Cooking/DSC3032/705302687_gnfcU-M.jpg
The large surface area helps, rather than say a tall pot.
Slightly underdone though, hmmm just keep adding stock/broth/water until it's done....depending on the age of the rice, etc. etc. cooking time could vary tremendously. be sure to "toast" it good first too. How I tell is smell it and it will smell a little "nutty". Some people check to see if its all white or not white, i forget...haha.
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