Cardoon risotto is tasty and light, an easy recipe to enjoy the wonderful flavor of this winter vegetable. How to blanch cardoons in a pan? Read here, where you can also find other recipes with cardoons.
How to distinguish the Cardoon plant from the Artichoke?
The cardoon is a plant with a shape similar to celery and thus with significant development of the central ribs, also compared to the artichoke plant it has narrower leaves.
Here how to grow cardoons and bleach them.
SEASONALITY
#cardoon (called wild artichoke): from October to February.
RECIPES with cardoons
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4People
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
- Energy 407.38 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 61.76 (g) of which sugars 1.26 (g)
- Proteins 6.20 (g)
- Fat 13.03 (g) of which saturated 4.07 (g)of which unsaturated 1.81 (g)
- Fibers 2.16 (g)
- Sodium 1,015.46 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 300 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Cardoon Risotto
- 10.5 oz cardoons (weight already cleaned)
- 4.2 cups vegetable broth (or water and vegetable bouillon cube)
- 2.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or seed oil)
- 1 clove garlic (optional)
- 1.25 cups rice (Carnaroli, Vialone nano, Baldo or Roma)
- 0.4 cups white wine (optional)
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1.5 tbsp butter (vegan)
Tools
- 2 Pans
- Ladle
- Knife smooth blade (or peeler)
Cardoon Risotto
Clean the cardoons
To avoid staining your hands, use latex gloves or periodically rub your fingertips with lemon juice.
Remove each central and tender rib from the two leafy, thorny, and green side edges. With a peeler or better with a smooth blade knife, scrape away all the external and superficial filaments, then cut the cardoon stalk into pieces and immerse them in a bowl of water (preferably with the addition of lemon juice to prevent them from darkening).
Prepare the vegetable broth and cook the cardoons in it cut into pieces about 0.8 inches long, at least 20 minutes will be needed to make them tender (to speed up their cooking, add a pinch of baking soda).
Prepare the risotto
In a pan, pour the oil and brown the garlic clove for a few minutes (with skin and crushed or peeled and cut in half without the germ) or sauté an onion or a stalk of leek until golden.
Then add the rice and toast it while stirring. If desired, deglaze with white wine.
Add some boiling broth and continue cooking, stirring and adding more broth as needed.
Halfway through cooking, add the cooked cardoon pieces from the vegetable broth.
Once ready, turn off the heat and stir in a knob of vegan butter or extra virgin olive oil raw. Mix and serve the cardoon risotto creamy.
How to finish the cardoon risotto?
HERE all the ingredients for a creamy and vegan version, ideas suitable also for those intolerant to milk who do not want to give up the creaminess and flavor of a finished risotto.
VEGETARIAN Alternatives
For a creamy result, finish the risotto with fresh cheese (without animal rennet): goat cheese, casatella, crescenza, gorgonzola, mascarpone, quark, ricotta, robiola, stracchino, taleggio.
Or, add two scrambled eggs after finishing.
Cardoon Risotto with FISH
– add anchovy fillets during the cooking of the risotto.
Cardoon Risotto with MEAT
– bacon, ham, and speck can be sautéed in pieces before toasting the rice. For a lighter result: sauté the preferred cured meat in a non-stick pan separately and only before serving the cardoon risotto, add on top hot and crispy.
– 200 g of sausage meat, to be crumbled and cooked a few minutes before adding the rice. For a lighter result: boil the sausage separately, drain it, and add it to the risotto in pieces towards the end of cooking.
