• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 250 0

until very little liquid is left in the pan. Ladle in 1 cup of the hot stock. Reduce the heat to medium-low, keep the rice at a gentle simmer, and stir frequently until almost all the liquid is gone. Ladle in ½ cup of the hot stock and repeat, ladling in ½ cup of stock each time most of the liquid has been absorbed. (You might not use all the stock.) You’ll stir and cook for about 18 to 25 minutes after adding the first cup of stock. Taste the rice to decide when it’s done: it should be creamy, firm in the center but without any hint of crunch. Stir in the squash mixture, remove from the heat, and stir in the shredded sage and the fontina.

Divide the risotto among shallow bowls. Top with the squab ragù. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and parsley before serving.

Sea Urchin Risotto

SERVES 5

Divers hunting abalone often bring back sea urchins as a backup plan; if the abalone is hard to find, the sea urchins are always there, clinging to the rocks along the shore. When I eat sea urchin, I think of the Italian fishermen in west Marin County who’ve fished all their lives and know how to eat. If one of these old fishermen had a pound of rice, what would he make? Sea urchin risotto. He’d pop the urchins open and suck the roe while stirring the rice. When I was a young chef, friends would bring urchins to the restaurant and be given this dish in payment. Twenty lucky customers that day would also get to taste this.

This adventurous dish celebrates the rugged coastline of Northern California. It’s worth having live sea urchins shipped to you. (Catalina Offshore Products ships them in packages of five; see Resources.) If you buy cleaned sea urchin instead of live urchin, choose premium grade or better.

While deciding whether or not you want to attempt this recipe, consider the very first person who took on the prickles of the urchin and discovered a treasure inside. That could be you.

Wine Pairing: Verdicchio

5 sea urchins

6 cups Fish Fumet, Vegetable Stock, Shrimp Stock, or a combination of 3 cups chicken stock and 3 cups water

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup finely chopped yellow onion

2 cups Vialone Nano or Arborio rice

1½ cups dry white wine

½ teaspoon sea salt, preferably gray salt, or kosher salt

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

1 teaspoon minced Preserved Meyer Lemons

About 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Have ready a small bowl to catch the sea urchin juice and a plate to hold the roe. Using a kitchen towel to protect your hand, hold a sea urchin with the upper side pointing toward the ceiling. Using a sharp knife or kitchen shears, cut a wide circle around the top of the shell, sort of like cutting a lid in a pumpkin to make a jack-o’-lantern. Pour any juice from inside the urchin into the bowl and reserve. Using a knife or your fingers, remove the brown matter, which is mostly partially digested seaweed. Using a spoon, carefully transfer the yellow roe to the plate. It’s okay if some of the roe breaks, but try to save it in good-size clumps. You should get about four clumps of roe from each urchin. Discard everything except the shells, roe, and juice. Very gently rinse the roe in cool water, using a sieve if you like, then set aside one good clump of roe for each serving of risotto (you’ll use this as garnish). Push the rest of the roe through a sieve into a bowl and set aside. Under cool running water, gently clean the inside of each urchin shell with your fingers, leaving the prickles in place. At Bottega, we run the shells through a dishwasher without any soap. You can do that, or boil the empty shells in a stockpot of water for 10 minutes. Drain and set the shells upside down on paper towels to dry while you make the risotto.

In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and keep it at the barest simmer.

Heat a large sauté pan or heavy saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil, and cook the onion until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring frequently, until the rice is pearly white with a translucent outer layer. Add the wine