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:-
- 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.
- 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.
- Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Add in the remaining butter. Serve with Barolo!
Enjoy the Fest!
