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| Wild garlic - a leafy spring herb |
The spring started this week. The proof of
it is all the fresh greens in the market as well as the buds on the trees and
birds collecting small branches from my balcony to make nests.
Spring is here when the ramsons, aka bear’s
garlic, arrive on the farmers´ market.
The ramsons make a refreshing pesto, a
welcome competition to the traditional basil. A heap of flavour together with a
prominent garlic taste all in one.
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| Dandellion |
I am glad to see that there are greens that
I don’t really know so well. More discoveries are awaiting if I get up early enough. This is how empty the market already is at 11:30.
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| Vegetable market in March |
Ingredients for 2 portions
Ramsons Risotto:
50g ramsons leaves, the white ends removed
0.5dl olive oil
A pinch of sea salt or fleure de sel
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium small onion, finely chopped
1 dl of white wine or prosecco
4 good handfuls of carnaroli rice
0.5l vegetable bouillon
25g cold butter
Red snapper:
300g red snapper fillet
Salt, pepper
A little oil for the pan
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| Ramsons for the pesto |
In a food processor or with a hand mixer
crush the ramsons together with a pinch of salt and the olive oil into a pesto
paste. Set aside for later.
Keep the hot bouillon at hand. Rinse the
fish and dry it with the kitchen paper. Season the fish with salt and pepper
and cut the filet into desired size pieces, more or less equal in size to
ensure it cooks evenly. Set aside. Heat the oven to 130ºC.
Heat the oil in the risotto pan and cook
the onion until a bit glassy. Add the rice and heat further. Splash the white
wine or prosecco generously on the rice and let it evaporate. Slowly start
adding some bouillon, not too much at a time. Stir with a wooden spoon. When
the liquid reduces add some more bouillon and keep stirring frequently. When
the risotto is almost done add the ramsons pesto, stir and cook until the rice
is al dente.
Heat the grill pan with a little oil. Place
the fish on the pan and cook for a couple of minutes on each side. Put the pan
in the oven for 5 minutes.
Finish off the risotto by stirring cold
butter into the risotto to make it creamy. When serving the risotto with fish I
don’t add any parmesan.
Remove the fish from the oven and serve
hot.
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| Bear´s (wild) garlic risotto and red snapper |