Blood orange risotto

Risotto !! If cooked right, it can be so luscious and tasty, but if not tended to carefully, it can taste horribly wrong. Before I delve into this culinary delight, I feel it necessary to let my readers that I have with mild OCD, especially when it comes to food ingredients. Once I try an ingredient once, I want to try it in almost everything. Some of the experiments usually result in tasty treats and sometimes the results are so awful, even my dog, if i had one wouldn’t eat them. Well, my current obsession is my favorite kind of ingredient (fresh!) and is in season. I happened upon blood oranges a few weeks ago and I thought, in addition to other culinary experiments, why not a blood orange risotto ? Creamy tangy goodness!!

Blood Orange Risotto

1 cup of arborio rice

Zest of 1 blood orange

1 blood orange, segmented

Juice from blood orange, from the remains

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon of rosemary

1/4 cup of onions

3 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 tablespoons of parsley, chopped

3 cups of chicken broth

Warm the chicken broth in a separate pot over medium heat. Add the thyme, rosemary and some of the juice of the blood orange to it. You do not need to boil the broth.

In another pot, add the butter and olive oil , add the onions and sauté till the onions are translucent. Add the rice and stir until the rice becomes, glossy and translucent. PATIENCE is required; else you will be disappointed. Good risotto does not like to be rushed, it?s like a coordinated salsa dance, fluff the moves and it looks bad.

Once the rice is at this point, add half the zest and half of the remaining juice to the rice. Cook, until the rice liquid is almost dry. At this point, you can also add the salt and pepper. Start adding the broth, 1/2 cup or so at a time. Stirring after each addition, and keep STIRRING until the broth is just about evaporated. Like I mentioned earlier, PATIENCE. The mixture should not be soupy or dry.

After about 20 minutes, start tasting the rice, yours might take a little more than 20 minutes,it should be tender, but with just a little bite to it. Add the parsley, remaining zest, and blood orange juice. Serve immediately.