Ham and Spinach Risotto Recipe
I could almost call this ‘Lazy Risotto’ as there is so little work involved.
The spinach was from the freezer; the ham was leftover from the Christmas.
There was a little chopping and a little stirring and that’s it!
You do know that you don’t have to stir constantly, right?
One of the things I love about the internet is the vast amounts of incorrect information that is continuously repeated as absolute truths.
I especially love it when two opposite truths are in the same article.
“Risotto must be stirred constantly.” “To avoid having to stir bake risotto in the oven.”
So – either stir constantly or not at all.
Compromise is, apparently, a lost art.
Ham and Spinach Risotto
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup (4.2oz, 125gr) Arborio rice (or other rice specifically for risotto – Carnaroli or Vialone Nano)
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) dry, white wine
- 2 1/4 cups (18oz, 540ml) chicken stock
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- 1 tbs butter
- 3/4 cup (3oz, 90gr) Parmesan cheese – freshly grated
- Condimenti:
- 8oz (240gr) ham, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- 7oz (210gr) frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
- 1 medium tomato, cut into chunks
- 2 tbs chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tsp olive oil
Instructions:
Heat chicken stock and keep hot over low heat.
In medium sauce pan heat butter; add the 1/2 onion and sauté until transparent.
Add rice and sauté, stirring, for 2 – 3 minutes until rice has white center.
Add white wine and stir.
Start condimenti.
When rice has almost absorbed all the wine add a 1/3 cup of stock, stir. (No need to stir constantly but do stir from time to time.) When stock is almost absorbed add another 1/3 cup and continue adding 1/3 cup at a time and stirring.
Before you add the last 1/3 cup taste a few kernels of rice. They should be just ‘al dente’ – slightly resistant to the tooth but fully cooked. If more stock is needed add it a few tbs at a time and waiting until almost completely absorbed.
At this point risotto will be thick but not stiff – there will still be visible liquid and it will not hold its shape on a plate.
Add the Parmesan and the condimenti, stir well, spoon into a bowl or risotto platter and serve immediately. It will continue to absorb liquid and the leftovers (if any) will be very stiff.
Condimenti:
Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add onion and sauté until tender.
Add ham, spinach, parsley, tomato, and heat through.
Cover and keep warm over low heat until needed.
Shakespeare used around 15,000 words.
If he couldn’t find the word he needed he invented it.
The average English speaker today uses around 2,500 words.
The average big-city newspaper uses about 850.
Dr. Seuss used just 50 words in his book ‘Green Eggs and Ham’. (It was the result of a bet with his publisher.)
New words are always being invented – some because the person uttering the sounds is clueless (ahem, see prior post) and some because a new word is needed (or perceived to be needed).
I have bemoaned in the past the trend to use nouns as verbs.
‘We’re going to dialogue’ rather than ‘We’re going to discuss it.’ or ‘We’re going to have a dialogue.’
One of the exercises we’ve been doing this year in my French class is to learn which verbs and nouns come from the same root.
They do, at least, differentiate between the two. Well, they would have to, wouldn’t they? Verbs don’t have gender, after all.
So we have fermer – to close and la fermature – the closing; traduire – to translate and la traduction – the translation; boire – to drink and la boisson – the drink; and so on…. lots and lots of them.
I have French class tomorrow…. I used up all of the rest of my allotted words doing my homework.
Last update on January 25, 2016
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