Mestolando, where home cooked italian food happens.

risotto ‘con bietola’ with swiss chard and arborio rice

This risotto absorbs leafy green swiss chard flavors and mixes them with a strong sauté base.

Ingredients for 4

• One bunch of Swiss Chard
• Arborio Rice, 320 grams (11 oz)
• 1 medium size red onion
• 2-3 stalks of Celery
• 1 medium size carrot
• Extra virgin Olive Oil, 3/4 cup
• Red wine, 1 cup
• Tomato Paste, 2 tablespoons
• 1 beef broth cube
• Butter, 2 tablespoons
• Parmesan cheese, 3 tablespoons
• Salt and Pepper for seasoning

how to prepare, taken from the video Start by preparing the ingredients for the sauté.

For the carrot clean off the skin with the back of my knife,
then shred it in a cheese grater.

Then for the celery wash them off and thinly slice them up. the thinner they are sliced the quicker they will cook in the sauté

Lastly for the onion clean off the soft layers by peeling them away, then continue thinly slice it up.

Now it’s time to start the sauté by adding the carrot, celery and onion to a large cooking pot on the stove.

Then about 3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, after that let it simmer on a very low heat and briefly stir around the ingredients.

While the sauté is cooking start to clean and prepare the swiss chard. Wash the leafy stalks off in some water, then slice them into medium size pieces.

Roll the leafy parts together to make it easier to slice up, this saves a little time.

While doing this check the sauté and stir it briefly.

After the swiss chard is prepared, put another large pot of water on the stove to boil and add in a beef broth cube.

Once the saute is done, after about 15 minutes, add in a cup of red wine. Then adjust the burner to a low heat and let simmer for another 5 min or until the alcohol smell has evaporated.

Next add in 4 table spoons worth of tomato paste and stir it around.

Then the swiss chard, making sure to mix it around well with the sauté.

After that, a couple ladle fulls of broth, you may need three depending on the amount of swiss chard used.

Then add in a couple table spoons of sea salt or normal table salt and stir it into the swiss chard mix.

The swiss chard should cook for about 20 minutes or until it starts to soften a little, but not too soft.

Now that the swiss chard is ready add in the arborio rice and mix it well letting it all simmer on a low heat until the watery broth has been adsorbed by the rice. then add in more broth.

The idea is too slowly cook the rice by adding in small amounts of broth until it’s done, the finished risotto should not be watery, and likewise not too dry.

Taste the rice to see if it’s done cooking. Now mix in a couple tablespoons of butter and three table spoons of Parmesan cheese stirring them into the risotto.

It’s now done, before serving let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

Go up to video