SWORDFISH, ASPARAGUS AND GRAPEFRUIT RISOTTO

Spring is coming! Let’s start it with this beautiful fresh risotto


Ingredients:

-Carnaroli Rice
-Swordfish (half of a slice per person)
-Grapefruit (half per person)
-Asparagus (10 per person)
-White Wine
-Garlic
-Fish Stock

Average prep time: one hour if you make real fish stock as you are supposed to do!!! I am against fake powder stock! So if you don’t have time to boil some fish heads and bones you might as well skip this recipe… but it would be a shame because it’s really good and different

Cooking time: 20 mins

Here we go!
Heat up some garlic with good olive oil in a pot. Cut the asparagus into small pieces and leave a couple per person out for garnishing. When the oil is hot enough, throw the asparagus pieces in the pot and cook them for a couple of minutes adding some table salt. While the asparagus are cooking, cut the grapefruits in half, squeeze them in a small bowl and add as much wine as the amount of juice you obtained. Now pour the grapefruit/wine mixture into the pot and turn up the heat. Grab the asparagus you left out and slice them thinly length wise.

Cut the swordfish into chunks, peel the rest of the grapefruit so you have just the pulp and cut it as well into chunks the same size as the swordfish ones. While you are doing this, the juices in the pot should have reduced and should have thickened into a cream…if they are not yet it means you are really quick! If it’s all burned it means you’ll have to be faster next time!!!

It’s time to add the rice. Let it cook until all the juices are about dry then start adding the fish stock every time the rice is dry. While you keep doing that, heat up some butter in a pan, add some salt and sauté the asparagus slices for 3 or 4 minutes.

About 5 minutes before the rice is done (it depends of course on how “al dente” you want your rice to be! But it should be roughly 15 minutes after you poured the rice in the pot), add the swordfish and the grapefruit chunks. One minute before it is done, add a little bit of butter and let it melt.
Now you’re Done!!!!

Wow!! Intense! But it’s all worth it. Serve with the asparagus slices on top. A sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper is just perfect on this risotto! Yum! And if you want, you can garnish with a thin slice of grapefruit.

Wine suggestion: Falanghina! A dry and aromatic wine that breathes the fresh costal air of Campania!

Music suggestion: anything from "The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve".