Risotto di Spumante with Salmon

In for a special treat? How about a risotto with spumante, the italian sparkling wine? Topped with a nice cut of salmon, marinated in red pepper and peanut oil?


Thought you´d like that. I loved it, too. This is actually really a quick meal - takes 30 minutes all in all. But you have to remain by the oven the whole time, stirring the risotto. Because if you leave it unattended, it has a tendency to burn. Immediately. Trust me, I´ve tried. But if you keep a close eye on it, everything will be fine.

I marinated the salmon with freshly ground red pepper, salt and coriander, blended with peanut oil. Just throw everything into a zip bag, knead it well, and let sit in the fridge for a while. The longer, the better, but if you´re short of time, 30 minutes will do.

The risotto is flavoured with sparkling wine and lemon - great combo. I used a semi-sweet sparkling wine to balance flavours. The snap peas are more for looks than for taste. I wanted something green to get more colour into the dish. So I just quickly boiled them (about 2 minutes), and tossed them in a little melted butter. A great recipe if you want to impress people. Or your taste buds. Or both.

Recipe for Risotto di Spumante with Salmon

Ingredients

2 fillets of salmon
coarse salt
red pepper corns
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
250g arborio rice
500ml spumante (sparkling wine)
500ml veggie broth
20g parmesan
knob of butter
1 shallot
1/2 lemon, juice and zest
100g snap peas


Preparation

1. In a morser, grind salt, red pepper and coriander seeds. Pour into zip bag. Add peanut oil.
   
2. Wash and dry salmon. Place in the prepped zip bag, and let sit in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
3. Dice shallot. Heat butter in a pot. Sear shallot.
   
4. Add arborio rice, and stir well. Quench with spumante until rice is just merely covered. Wait until the liquid has been soaked up, and add spumante and broth alternatingly, until the rice is done (takes about 20 minutes). Stir constantly, otherwise your risotto will burn.
5. About 7 minutes before the risotto is done, heat a pan. Sear the salmon on high heat, 1 minute on each side. Reduce the heat to low, and cook salmon until done.
   
6. When the risotto is al dente, remove from heat, add lemon juice and peel and parmesan. Stir well. Cover with a lid and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
7. Serve with some quickly boiled snap peas, tossed in butter.

Guten Appetit! Enjoy your meal! Bon Appétit!