Lemon and Thyme Risotto

https://leitesculinaria.com/77318/recipes-lemon-and-thyme-risotto.html

Richard Bertinet

INGREDIENTS

• • 1 large onion

  • 2 egg yolks

  • 3 ounces Parmesan

  • 2 smallish lemons, preferably organic

  • Bunch of thyme

  • 1 1/2 quarts (6 cups) vegetable stock

  • 4 tablespoons butter

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 14 ounces risotto rice, such as Arborio, Carnaroli, Vialone Nano, or the like

  • 1/4 bottle white wine

DIRECTIONS

• 1. Dice the onion very finely. Place the butter, oil, onion, and a pinch of salt in a wide pan over medium heat. Cook the onion very gently for about 4 to 5 minutes, until soft but NOT colored. 

  2. Meanwhile prepare mise en place. Place your pan of stock onto the stove, bring to a boil, and then turn down to a simmer. Place the egg yolks in a bowl. Grate the Parmesan. Zest the lemons and squeeze the juice. Reserve a few strips of lemon zest for the garnish. Pick the thyme leaves from their stalks, but leave a couple of sprigs whole for the garnish.

  3. Add the rice to the onion and stir very well to coat every grain. 

  4. Add your white wine and stir, add half the lemon juice and half the zest. Reduce until just dry.

  5. Add your hot stock, a ladleful at a time, stir, cook and reduce, until the stock has almost disappeared into the rice. Repeat until all stock is used and rice is cooked. The rice needs to be tender, but still have some bite to it. Your risotto should take no more than 20 to 25 minutes from start to finish.

  6. When you feel that it is almost there, take the pan off the heat. Quickly mix the cheese, as much thyme as you please, and the remaining lemon juice and zest into your bowl of egg yolks, and then beat this into your risotto as energetically as you can. 

  7. The risotto should be nice and relaxed and creamy. If it feels a bit too thick, whisk in a little more hot stock. (Rice retains a lot of heat, so you can relax and not rush to finish it off.) It should be creamy and slightly soupy, so if you think it’s too stodgy at the end, you can just add some more hot stock until you are happy with the consistency. Taste and season if you need to. However, remember that if you’re using store-bought stock, it may be very salty anyway, as is the Parmesan, so you may not need much salt.

  8. Spoon the risotto into wide bowls and garnish with the reserved lemon zest and thyme.

Editor’s Note: Leftover risotto? One of our recipe testers forms the cold risotto into oblong little orbs of sorts, coats them in fine bread crumbs, and fries ’em up. Gotta say, we love that idea. And we think you will, too.