Risotto with fennel sausage, Dolcetto d'Alba and Pecorino cheese

• 10 minutes to prepare • 30 minutes to cook • Serves 4

 

 

Red meat

I enjoy experimenting with risotto: it's one of those basic recipes where very little can go wrong.
The basic components of a risotto - creamy rice, flavoursome stock, herbs, melting onion - are so good together that even if you put something completely weird in with them, it's bound to taste halfway decent.

I've been wanting to try another risotto with red wine for months.
Sometimes I find the pure white creaminess of a standard risotto a bit boring and monotonous, and I love bringing more flavour to it using red wine, as well as creating something dark and delicious. A white risotto goes well with delicate ingredients like seafood or goat cheese; the sharpness of red wine is great at counteracting rich meats like pork or duck.

The butcher I normally visit had all sorts of sausages on display. I figured the spiciness of fennel would go quite well in a risotto.
Finally, I was not wrong. Try to believe!


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

 

320 g Carnaroli rice 
1 shallot
200 g fennel sausage
1 l meat broth
1 glass Dolcetto d'Alba red wine
100 g grated Pecorino cheese
10 g butter
salt and pepper

1. Cut the skin of the sausage with the tip of a sharp knife and remove it. Cut the sausage into nibbles of equal size
2. Braise the chopped shallot with the melted butter until golden, then add the sausage and let it become golden
3. Pour the rice into the pan and let it toast for 1 minute
4. Simmer it with the red wine until it evaporates
5. Cook the rice, adding a spoonful of boiling broth at a time, as for a normal risotto, (please refer to the cooking time indicated on the rice package)
6. A few moments before the rice is done, add freshly ground pepper and the Pecorino cheese. Stir to mix and serve immediately!

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