Gala with Risotto on White Truffle Festival

Just Italian red wine called Barolo is not enough to celebrate the month of October among the Italians. Alba is considered as Italy’s top culinary commodity, where people celebrate the White Truffle Fest, aka, Tuber Magnatum Pico. During the weekends, the markets are flooded with luscious local treats. The white truffle season brings with it the rarest of all the mushrooms. For good quality of white truffles, leaching of fungicides into the soil and global warming is of utmost importance. White truffle reminds one about a perfect combo of wet soil, rain of the fall, youth that is lost and old steaming affairs. 

The highlights of the fests includes a parade of 1000+ people decked up portraying medieval period and amusing donkey races. The restaurants throughout are stuffed with heavily truffled lunch and grand dinners. I must definitely try something authentic, after all I love Italian food. I thought of trying out something with Arborio rice. Arborio rice is Italian short grain rice. It is called so because of the town of Arborio, in the Po Valley, where it is grown in abundant quantity. I have used wine which is one of the specialty of the country. You can definitely replace chicken stock with vegetable stock if you are vegan/vegetarian or beef/fish if you are a fan of non-veg or seafood. The recipe is quite flexible, filling and easy to cook. 

White Truffles Soup with Risotto Recipe

Ingredients:-

6 tablespoons Butter,

2 cups Arborio rice,

1 cup Dry White Wine,

7 cups Chicken stock,

3 finely chopped Shallots,

1 tablespoon chopped Garlic,

1 ½ ounces fresh White Truffles,

Coarse Salt and freshly ground Pepper to taste.

Preparation Method:-

1. First of all, melt three tablespoons of butter in a heavy frying pan over low heat. Add shallots and cook until translucent. Pour in the rice and stir with a wooden spoon over medium heat until all the rice is coated with the butter. Let it cook for four minutes.
2. Stir frequently. Then add wine. Let it evaporate. Then add chicken stock, one cup at a time, and cook the rice over medium heat, stirring constantly as the stock is absorbed by the rice. When the rice is almost done, add in garlic. Cook again for ten minutes.
3. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Add in the remaining butter. Serve with Barolo!
   
   
   
   
   
   Enjoy the Fest!