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!

Day 13: Saint Lucy's Buns

Yesterday I didn't bake anything for my reverse advent's calendar. The reason is - I had the honour of doing the catering for my godson's birthday party! So I spent the whole day in the kitchen cooking and baking for the big event.

But around midnight I prepared the dough for today's project. I wanted to bake Saint Lucy's buns, which are a tradition in Sweden - and increasingly so in Finland as well. I've baked them a couple of times, only this time I wanted to use sourdough starter only instead of yeast. The result was incredibly soft and tasty - my starter seems to be in good form again!

Traditionally, these buns contain saffron which lends them a very beautiful yellow colour. Well, I had forgotten to buy saffron, and by the time I wanted to make the dough, it was already too late to buy any. So mine were white this year.. but very tasty nonetheless (and much cheaper, of course ;) ).

This is what I needed for 13 buns:

• 100g stiff sourdough starter


• 250ml liquid (I used a mix of water, cream, and quark)


• 50g sugar (this is very little, and the buns were just slightly sweet - feel free to add more)


• 1/3 tsp salt


• 100g butter, softened


• 1 egg


• 0.5g saffron (which I had forgotten to buy...)


• about 400g all-purpose flour

Combine all ingredients in a baking bowl. Knead until the dough is smooth, or about 10 minutes. Cover with a damp kitchen cloth and place in a warmish place overnight (or about 8 hours) to ferment.

When the dough has more or less doubled in volume, place it on a baking surface and punch the air out. Divide the dough in about 13 parts. Roll each part about 20cm long and form buns in a shape of S.

Place the buns on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Cover with a kitchen towel and proof about 20-30 minutes. Brush the buns with egg yolk and decorate with raisins (place them deep enough so that they don't burn!). Bake in a preheated oven (220C) about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Enjoy your buns just as they've cooled enough!

I froze five of my buns for Christmas.. let's see if they are still so soft when defrosted ;)

P.S. After having read the story of Saint Lucy in Wikipedia, I can't look at these buns without thinking that those two raisins symbolize the poor girl's eyes.. a very macabre story indeed!