From , serves 4.
Ingredients
5 cups chicken stock
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup diced unpeeled sweet-tart apple (Stayman Winesap, McIntosh)
6 tablespoons diced country ham
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3/4 cup semidry hard cider
Wedge of Asiago cheese
Freshly ground pepper
Directions
Pour stock into a saucepan, place over medium heat, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to very low.
In a frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium high heat. Add apple cubes and sauté, stirring until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Do not allow them to soften, as they will cook further in risotto. Remove from heat and keep warm.
Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add ham and rice, stir 2-3 minutes, or until rice is well coated with butter. Add cider and stir 2 minutes, or until it is absorbed. Add about 1/2 cup hot stock, stir well, and simmer, stirring often, unil stock is absorbed. Continue adding stock, 1/2 cup at a time, and allowing it to be fully absorbed before adding more, until rice is almost cooked. Add apple cubes with final addition of stock.
The rice is ready when it is firm but tender and creamy and center of each grain is no longer chalky, about 25 minutes. You may not need all the stock, or you may need more liquid, in which case hot water can be used. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes.
Uncover risotto and spoon over a warmed serving platter. Using a vegetable peeler, shave curls of Asiago over top. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.
WINE IDEAS: Search out one of the hard ciders available now that have a dry, winelike delicacy and champagne-esque bubbles to match this dish. Eric Bordelet, a former sommelier in Paris, makes a model example from his orchards in Normandy called Sydre Argelette; West County Winery in Massachusetts also makes an exemplary range from different varieties of apples. Tara Q. Thomas
