Aubergine & Lemon Risotto

Oh, hello blog - remember me?!  Sad to say, that while I have been busying myself over the last few weeks with major kitchen renovations and the opening of my new yoga school, my poor blog has been suffering from extreme neglect.  Although I have in that time managed to cook several dishes that I want to share with you, actually getting that translated into posts just doesn't seem to have happened.  Time to rectify that!

I am mad for aubergine at the best of times, and I've really been using it a lot lately - grilled on the barbeque, stuffed (post coming soon I promise), in moussaka, and in salads.  One of my favourites has been this aubergine and lemon risotto, unsurprisingly from one of my favourite cookbooks Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi.  The lemon complements the aubergine perfectly, and adds that note of brightness and freshness that transforms this from the wintery comfort food role with which we normally associate risotto into a lighter more summery dish.

Now, since I'm anxious that this post shouldn't spend yet another month languishing in draft, I'm getting straight onto sharing the recipe with you without any further preamble.

 

Aubergine & Lemon Risotto Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi from

Plenty

Makes 3 generous servings

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2 medium aubergine

olive oil

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 generous handfuls arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine

3 to 4 cups vegetable stock, hot

1 large lemon, grated zest & juice

1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup mascarpone

1/2 cup Parmesan, freshly grated

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

generous handful fresh basil leaves, shredded

Using a sharp knife, pierce the skin of one of the aubergine in several places.  Place on a foil-lined baking tray, and put into the oven under a hot grill until the skin has blackened and the flesh appears to have collapsed and deflated.  Keep an eye on it, turning the aubergine over several times;  it will take between 30 minutes and 1 hour.  Remove from the oven.  Once the aubergine is cool enough to handle, make a lengthwise cut through the skin;  scoop out the flesh, chop it roughly and discard the skin.  Set aside.

Return your oven to its regular baking function, and heat to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F).

Cut the other aubergine into large dice, toss generously with olive oil, and spread in a single layer in a shallow, parchment lined baking dish.  Season liberally with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Put into the hot oven and bake until the aubergine pieces are golden brown and cooked through.  Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Set a heavy based pan over medium heat, and add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add the shallot and garlic to the pan - cooking until the shallot and garlic just begin to soften - take care not to burn the garlic - almost as soon as you can smell the garlic it is time to add the rice to the pan.  Continue cooking the rice with the shallot and garlic, stirring constantly, until every single grain of rice is coated with the oil - it will take on a kind of translucent look around the edges and will start to "squeak".

Now is the time to add the wine, and continue stirring until virtually all the wine has been absorbed by the rice.  Then begin to add the stock, one ladleful at a time - stirring constantly until each ladleful has been absorbed before adding the next. The rice will swell up considerably as it absorbs the stock, and once the rice is cooked through, remove the pan from the heat.

Add half of the grated lemon zest, the lemon juice, the soft flesh that you scooped out of the blackened aubergine, butter, mascarpone, and half of the parmesan.  Also add a generous pinch of flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Stir well, cover the pan, and set aside for about 5 minutes for all the flavours to infuse.  Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper or lemon juice as necessary.

Spoon the risotto into serving bowls, sprinkle over the golden cubes of oven-baked aubergine, the remaining Parmesan and lemon zest, and the basil.

I'm also sharing this post at See Ya in the Gumbo hosted by Ms. enPlace and at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet and Savory.