Champagne Thursday. Yay!
This post is not just two weeks late, but rather about two years overdue. This often neglected little space was intended to be something of a cooking blog. My many, many draft posts can attest to that.
So, tardiness aside, here goes a Post With A Recipe (and photos to prove the results).
For Champagne Thursday two weeks ago (where, naturally, one drinks champagne on a Thursday), I made a tasty Aubergine and Lemon Risotto. Very yum. Now, I guess at this point I ought to wax lyrical about my own interpretations of the recipe, history of aubergines, or lemons, or risotto, or something of that sort. But as a blogger, I am not there yet. So what follows is the recipe. As I found it in The Guardian.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s Aubergine and lemon risotto
Smoky aubergine and the strong freshness of lemon and basil are used here to offset the stodgy tendency of some risotti. A good-quality stock is vital, because it’s the backbone of the dish (it’s a cinch to make, too: just cover some aromatic vegetables and herbs – carrot, celery, onion, bay, parsley, garlic, fennel, thyme, etc – with water, add a pinch of salt, simmer for 20-30 minutes and strain). Serves four. [My note: That's what Yotam Ottolenghi had to say. But all the photos are mine. Go me.]
Aubergine and Lemon Risotto. Yum!
2 medium aubergines
170ml olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200g risotto rice
120ml white wine
750ml hot vegetable stock
2 tbsp lemon juice
Grated zest of 1 lemon
20g butter
Coarse sea salt and black pepper
50g Parmesan (or other mature hard cheese), grated
10g basil leaves, shredded
Preheat the oven grill to high. Place one aubergine on a tray and grill for about an hour, turning occasionally, until the flesh inside is cooked through (don’t worry if the aubergine bursts – continue cooking, so you get that distinct smoky flavour). Remove from the oven, cut a slit lengthways in the aubergine and scoop out the soft flesh, avoiding most of the burnt skin. Roughly chop the flesh and put in a bowl.
Cut the second aubergine into 1.5cm dice. Heat 120ml olive oil in a frying pan and in batches until golden and crisp. Transfer to a colander, sprinkle with salt and leave to cool.
Heat the remaining oil in a heavy-based pan, then fry the onion slowly. When translucent and cooked, add the crushed garlic and cook for three minutes more. Turn up the heat, add the rice, stir to coat it in the oil and fry for two to three minutes. Add the wine (it should hiss) and cook for two to three minutes more, until all but evaporated. Turn down the heat to medium.
Add a ladle of hot stock to the rice, then stir until it is absorbed, then repeat, stirring all the while, until all the stock has been used up – this will take 10-15 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat, add the lemon juice, half the zest, the aubergine pulp, butter and half a teaspoon of salt. Stir, cover and leave for five minutes. Taste and add more salt if you like and some black pepper.
To serve, spoon the risotto into bowls or plates and sprinkle with the diced aubergine, Parmesan, basil and the rest of the lemon zest.
Source: The Guardian
*Side note 1: I adore aubergine, especially when grilled whole until it collapses.
**Side note 2: Yotam Ottolenghi is chef-patron of Ottolenghi, London. Also, I have an Ottolenghi cookbook! Yay! But this recipe is not in it.
***Side note 3: I love champagne a lot.
