Risotto with beer and mortadella

• 10 minutes to prepare • 25 minutes to cook • Serves 4

 

 

Just eat it.

I have a problem, and it’s about time I admit it: when I host a dinner, I tend to waste food. Each time I promise myself I will buy just enough food for the number of guests around the table, and every day after I throw away cold cuts, savoury pies, the content of open alcoholic bottles...
It's time to make a change. So to help stop wasting food (and money), I’m looking for a bunch of ways to make use of the most common extras in the kitchen.
Today we will use Mortadella and blonde beer in a delightful recipe which will transform yesterday's leftovers into today's delicious risotto. 

Mortadella is a large Italian cold cut (salume) made of finely hashed heat-cured pork, which incorporates small cubes of pork fat. It is flavoured with spices, including whole or ground black pepper, myrtle berries, and pistachios. Mortadella is a product of Bologna. 
I like it, like a lot. It definitely deserves better destiny than being tossed out into the trash can.

Here's what you will need for the 4-serving recipe:

 

320 g Carnaroli rice 
1 shallot
1 organic lemon zest
1 l vegetable broth
1 tablespoon dried Rosemary
1 teaspoon dried ginger
40 g grated Parmesan cheese
150 g Mortadella
150 ml blonde beer
EVO oil
salt and pepper

1. Cut half of Mortadella into slices about 1cm wide. Finely chop the other half
2. Braise chopped shallot with a little oil and salt
3. Pour the rice into the pan and let it toast for 1 minute. Simmer it with the beer until it evaporates
4. Cook the rice, adding a spoonful of boiling vegetable broth at a time, as for a normal risotto, for about half of rice's cooking time (please refer to the cooking time indicated on the rice package). At this point, add the chopped mortadella 
5. A few moments before the rice is done, add the lemon zest, and the dried rosemary
6. Turn off the heat and stir in the grated cheese, then add the dried ginger and freshly ground pepper. Serve hot with Mortadella slices on top

In the following, Nutrition Facts of this dish are indicated. Data is provided per serving.

La mortadella è buonissima, non c'è niente da fare, è proprio buona.*
(Quote from the movie Caruso Pascoski di padre polacco)

*Mortadella is very good, I can't help it. It is really good.