Risotto with Chilli, Radicchio and Sausage
If you think that a bowl of soupy risotto richly seasoned with red wine, Parmesan and garlicky sausage meat sounds like heaven then this is the recipe for you. It makes a great dinner for friends with a green salad and is easy peasy to make.
Ingredients
600ml good red wine
600ml chicken stock
4 fat Toulouse or Italian spiced sausages
3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
40g butter
2 small heads of radicchio or Treviso (or 1/2 small Savoy cabbage), finely shredded
1 tbsp good-quality balsamic vinegar
2 fresh red chillies, de-seeded and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small bunch thyme, leaves stripped
300g Arborio or other short grain risotto rice
50g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Recipe
Heat the wine and stock together over a gentle flame and keep warm over the lowest heat ready for the risotto. Squeeze the meat out of the sausage skins.
Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan then add the sausage meat, using a wooden spoon to mash the meat as it cooks, breaking it down into little chunks. Cook until golden brown, then add the onion and cook for 5–10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat half the butter and when sizzling hot add the shredded radicchio. Stir-fry for 5 minutes until wilted, then sprinkle over the balsamic vinegar.
Once the onions are soft, stir in the chilli, garlic and thyme. After a minute add the rice and stir for a few minutes to thoroughly coat the grains in fat. Now add a ladleful of the wine stock and stir into the rice until it has been completely absorbed.
Keep adding the liquid, stirring continuously, almost beating the mixture with a wooden spoon as if you were lightly whipping cream. After about 15 minutes stir in the sautéed radicchio; after another 10 minutes, when the liquid has been used up the rice should be tender but still with a slight bite to it.
Season with salt and pepper, stir in the remaining butter and some Parmesan cheese and check again for seasoning. Serve at once with a good bottle of medium bodied red wine and more Parmesan to serve.
IMAGE CREDIT: Tara Fisher