Lake trout with potato risotto
After spectacular culinary journeys across the world’s oceans, Lukas Nagl has found his home port...
Fennel and Sausage Risotto
Fennel and pork is a match made in heaven, as Italian cooks know – Italian sausage is often flavoured with fennel seeds. We bring those classic flavours together in this creamy risotto.
| Ingredients (4 servings) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2 | fennel bulbs | |
| 2–3 | teaspoon(s) | olive oil |
| 1 | large onion, finely chopped | |
| 1 | teaspoon(s) | fennel seeds |
| 300 | g | risotto rice |
| 150 | ml | dry white wine |
| 1 | l | chicken or vegetable stock, hot |
| 100 | g | parmesan, grated |
| 250 | g | fresh pork sausage |
| 100 | g | roasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped |
| freshly ground black pepper | ||
- Clean the fennel bulbs: remove the outer leaves, cut off the stems and greens. Halve one fennel bulb, cut out the stalk and finely chop.
- Cut the second bulb lengthwise into slices about 5mm thick.
- Peel the sausage from its skin and cut into pieces about 3cm thick. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and fry the sausage pieces until brown all over. Lift out with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- In the same pan, fry the fennel slices on both sides until nicely browned and pleasantly firm to the bite. Lift out and set aside for later.
- Sauté the onion, fennel seeds and finely chopped fennel in the same pan until they have become translucent but not yet coloured. Add a little more oil if necessary. Add the rice and fry, stirring frequently, until it smells lightly toasted, about 5 minutes.
- Pour the white wine into the pan, stir and let it bubble until all the liquid evaporates.
- Pour in a generous ladle of the hot stock and stir. Continue to stir occasionally, adding more hot stock when the previous addition has been absorbed.
- Repeat until the rice is cooked al dente, 15–20 minutes.
- Add more stock to obtain a soupy consistency, then stir in the parmesan, sausage and nuts. Stir until the risotto has a loose, creamy consistency – it should be liquid enough to move around on the serving plate.
- Serve on warmed plates, topped with the reserved fried fennel slices, seasoned with freshly ground black pepper.
