Risotto with Lemon and Fennel
“I just love this dish! My parents have a variety of lemon trees, so when they bring you a huge container of them, you start thinking of anything and everything that can be prepared with lemons. And fennel - well, it’s crunchy, slightly sweet, and tastes refreshing. These two ingredients go really well together. For Love and Lemons!”
prep: 30 min cook: 1 1/2 hours serves: 4 - 6
Ingredients:
4 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp red chili pepper flakes
1 tsp fennel seed
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 medium fennel bulbs, cored and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
5 1/4 cups chicken broth
10 oz arborio rice
1 lemon (juiced and finely zested)
salt and pepper to taste
How to Make It:
In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a simmer; keep warm.
In a heavy pan, melt 2 TBSP butter over medium heat. Add red pepper chili flakes, fennel seeds, and garlic and saute for 1 - 2 minutes. Add the fennel, season with salt and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes.
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt remaining butter and saute onions until softened. Add the rice and saute together with onion until rice becomes translucent ( 1 - 2 minutes).
Pour in the white wine and continue cooking until all the liquid has evaporated.
Add a ladle of the warm chicken stock, and stir until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue, ladle by ladle, the same process making sure the liquid is absorbed before adding the next ladle full until the rice is tender but creamy. It usually takes 30 - 40 minutes.
Stir in the fennel, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 2/3 cups Parmesan cheese, then remove it from heat. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and a sprig of fennel leaf if you’d like.