Risotto Milanese with Grilled Fennel and Herbs

My great-grandmother Olga was notorious for her elephant's memory: she would never forget, especially when she got bad service in a shop. If that happened, she would make a dramatic exit, declaring in her broad Karelian dialect: "I will never come to this place again." And she would indeed keep her word.

So do I.

This risotto recipe is dedicated to Coma, an Italian restaurant in Helsinki that boasts simple Italian dishes, made from scratch in their open kitchen. Me and my cousin had dinner there on Tuesday and were very disappointed with the risotto we both had as main dish. The only thing the waiter could answer to our very polite criticism was: "But this is the best risotto in Helsinki!" It turned out it had indeed been nominated as the best risotto in town - back in 2007. Anyway, de gustibus non est disputandum - but it's not acceptable not to take polite remarks seriously (or at least to fake to do so). And the dish was horribly expensive, too; 18 euros for a small plate.

So, I will never go to Coma again.

To recover from that awful risotto experience, I tried out a new risotto idea today, featuring saffron, garlic, grilled fennel, and herbs. For this big portion enough for 5 eaters I paid about 12 euros... and I happen to live in one of the most expensive places in the world - so the chances are, you'll pay even less :)

Here's what you need:

• 1 large onion, finely chopped


• 2 garlic cloves, crushed


• 5 Tbsp olive oil, divided


• 0,5g saffron


• salt and pepper to taste


• 150ml dry white wine


• about 1 liter hot vegetable stock


• 2 large fennel bulbs, sliced finely


• a handful of fresh basil and parsley leaves


• a handful of toasted pine nuts


• (and some grated Parmesan to serve, if you want)

First, set your oven to 250C. Place the fennel slices on a baking tray and sprinkle them generously with olive oil and salt. Once the oven is hot, grill the fennel slices until they start to get some colour, or about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, cook the risotto: Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan. Sauté the onions over a medium heat until they are translucent. Add the garlic and stir, then add the rice and fry 1-2 minutes more. Now, add the white wine, saffron, salt, and pepper, and about 1/3 of the vegetable stock. Let simmer over a medium heat. Add gradually the rest of the vegetable stock until the rice has cooked al dente. Your risotto should be rather liquid at this point, because it dries a lot before you get to serve it - even if you're very fast :)

Now, arrange the grilled fennel slices on top of the risotto. Sprinkle generously with basil, parsley, pine nuts ans some more pepper and salt if needed. Serve immediately with a glass of your favorite red wine!

Zucchini Feta Fritters with Tzatziki

When the kids are craving for pasta pesto with broccoli and the somewhat bigger kid  announces he will only eat low-carb for dinner from now on, what does one do? Well, one makes the pasta (10 minutes, remember?), then takes a look at the fridge and comes up with a new, rather quick Greece-inspired recipe!

So I’m proud to present these delicious and fluffy fritters with zucchini, feta, and dill, served with a generous helping of tzatziki. This recipe is not as quick as some others: it took me 20 minutes to make this dish, mainly because I could only fit three fritters easily in my pan at the same time. So, if in a hurry, use two pans!

This recipe is for two people, especially if served with a slice or two of good bread. If you - like me - are not afraid of carbs, that is!

For the fritters:

• 140g zucchini, grated


• 75g feta


• 2 eggs


• 1 Tbsp pine nuts


• 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped


• salt and black pepper to taste

For the tzatziki:

• 10cm piece of cucumber


• 4 heaped Tbsp natural yoghurt


• 1 small garlic clove (or to taste)


• 1 Tbsp olive oil


• salt and black pepper to taste

First, make the tzatziki: grate the cucumber very fine and drain in a sieve to get the excess water out. Then combine in a bowl with yoghurt, crushed garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Stir, cover, and place in the fridge for the time you make the fritters.

Now, it’s time to make the fritters. First, crush the feta with a fork. Then place all ingredients in a bowl, stir until well combined, and fry the fritters in a large pan with a little bit of oil over a medium heat. This amount of batter results in 6 smallish fritters. It was a bit challenging to fry them – in the beginning, the batter tends to spread a lot, which you need to stop by moving the runaway batter back with a spatula. But after that, it’s easy! Once they’re done from one side (about 4 minutes or so), turn them and fry until both sides are golden brown.

Serve the fritters with tzatziki, sliced fresh vegetables - and maybe some good bread!

 

Spaghetti with Broccoli and Home-Made Pesto

Quick food doesn’t necessarily mean pasta. The mother of all quick meals is nevertheless pasta with pesto, at least for me. Everyone loves it, kids and adults alike – even the picky ones – and to get it on your plate, you really only need the time it takes to cook the pasta. So if the package says “cottura 18 minuti”, forget about it! We need it quicker.

In this recipe, broccoli is cooked together with spaghetti – both require exactly the same time to be al dente! Miraculous! And with that much broccoli, the whole thing seems a lot healthier ;)

This is what you need to feed 4 hungry people:

• 500g spaghetti, with 8-9 minutes cooking time


• 400g broccoli


• 40g basil leaves


• 40g Parmesan cheese


• 10g pine nuts


• 100g olive oil


• 1-2 garlic cloves


• salt and pepper to taste


• plus a couple of basil leaves, pine nuts, and some grated Parmesan to serve

This is how you proceed:

1. Bring enough water to the boil in a large saucepan to cook the spaghetti. When waiting for the water to boil, cut the broccoli in pieces. Then add some salt, spaghetti, and the broccoli. Stir once in a while.

2. When spaghetti and broccoli are cooking, you have exactly 8 minutes to prepare the pesto and set the table – but it’s more than enough! Wash and drain basil if needed, place it together with olive oil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper, in a bowl. Pulse everything with a hand mixer into a smooth paste.

3. Drain pasta and broccoli and place them in a serving bowl. Then add the pesto, stir, and decorate with basil leaves and pine nuts. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan and serve!

For a vegan version, forget the cheese – or use a vegan alternative. My favourite is No-Moo Piquant.