Risotto Saffron and Speck

What’s Speck?

Speck is a dry-cured, lightly smoked ham and it’s produced in South Tyrol, in the north of Italy, close to Austria. I love to eat it when I go there on holiday and I’m so lucky to have found it in English supermarkets too! If you can’t find speck you can always substitute it with pancetta cubes…

Ingredients

For 4 people

Carnaroli or Arborio Rice 320g

Stock cubes (beef or vegetable) 2

Water 750ml

Speck slices 80g

Saffron 1 tube (0.4g)

Shallot 1

White wine 30ml

Olive oil 4 spoons

Butter 40g

Grated Parmesan cheese 60g

Method

1. A few hours before cooking (if possible, even the night before) put the saffron in a glass half filled with water and leave it there until you need to put it in the rice.

2. In a pan, add some oil and a chopped-up split in half shallot and let it cook/fry slightly for a few minutes.

3. Meanwhile, boil up the water in another pan, add the stock cubes and keep it warm. This is the broth we need to add to the rice to cook.

4. Now add the rice to the pan with the oil and stir with a wooden spoon. We call this “toasting the rice”.

5. After a couple minutes, add the wine and put the flame high, to let the wine evaporate.

6. When the wine has evaporated (it should take only a few minutes) add a generous scoop of broth and stir. Lower the flame and remove the pieces of shallot.

7. While cooking, take the speck and cut it in smaller squares to add to the rice halfway through the cooking. Keep a few slices aside for decoration.

8. After 10 minutes, add the saffron previously prepared and stir.

9. The rice should take about 15-20 minutes to cook. Regularly add some spoons of broth when needed during the cooking when the rice looks dry, and taste to know it is done. Make sure it has dried properly before you turn the pan off.

10. When you have turned off the pan, add the butter and Parmesan. Stir with a spoon and cover for a minute.

11. Your risotto is done! You can now serve it with two or three speck rolls on top for decoration :)