A very colorful first course, the risotto with artichokes, turmeric and timut pepper with a hint of cardamom will surprise you with its deliciousness.
Yesterday I remembered a risotto I tasted a few years ago by chef Gilmozzi of the restaurant El Molin in Cavalese. Besides how good it was, I remembered it was sprinkled with timut pepper — from that moment I fell in love with it.
The timut pepper, which some confuse with its cousin the Sichuan pepper, is something extraordinary. Maybe it’s because I love citrusy and spicy flavors, and timut pepper is exactly that. In truth timut pepper is not a true pepper but the peel of a very fragrant berry, grown mainly in the highlands of Nepal. The timut berries grow on a thorny tree; local women collect the berries and dry them in the sun. Timut should not be ground but only crushed in a mortar. The aroma of timut is penetrating, like grapefruit and lime. The peculiarity of this pepper is that it momentarily numbs parts of the mouth and then the flavor explodes.
It pairs wonderfully with risottos and with artichokes, which is how I used it. But try it also in sweets, cookies, or with rice.
In Nepal it is used to treat stomach aches, but it is also antibacterial and diuretic; I use it to make digestive infusions.
You can see the use of timut pepper in timut pepper cookies and in the vegetable mapo tofu.
I also leave you some risotto recipes. If you’re interested, you can browse the more than 1000 recipes you’ll find on my blog.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Budget
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups Vialone Nano rice
- 1 shallot
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 artichokes (cooked)
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 3 pods cardamom
- 5 berries pepper (timut)
Tools
- 1 Risottiera Lagostina Emozione risotto pan
How to prepare the artichoke, turmeric and timut risotto
Pour a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil into a risotto pan, add the chopped shallot and a little oil and let it sweat for a few minutes. Add the rice and toast it for one minute.
Add the sautéed artichokes and mix gently. Bring the vegetable broth to a simmer and add it one ladle at a time, letting it be absorbed.
Near the end of cooking add the turmeric and the cardamom seeds. Continue cooking for a total of 14–15 minutes from the start. Turn off the heat, stir in one tablespoon of oil, adjust the salt if needed and add a splash of lemon at the end. Serve at the table with crushed timut pepper.
Tips from Thyme and Lentils
If you have leftover artichoke, turmeric and timut risotto you can sauté it the next day. You can make a mini sartù of rice, for example, or rice balls.
