This risotto was not one of the best things I have ever cooked (for that, wait next post...) but I can say it is one of the things in which I infused the biggest love while cooking :) (I keep correcting it and I am not sure it makes sense in english - anyway)
The occasion was my friend A visiting my new home in Frankfurt, the home I am sharing with the guy she connected me with a couple of years ago. I once said to her "that's not incredible? I mean, that now I am dating your friend" and she replied that it was absolutely normal: we are friend because we connect, she is friend with him because they connect, so there was indeed a good prior about our compatibility :) that sounds logic, but notwithstanding this touch of rationality, I still was incredibly excited about her seeing my new life. Oh yes because I have a new life (not quite a news, it happens on a regular basis since 5 years ago): I finally left my flat in Maastricht with the hearth full of joy.
That flat was really nice, the city is incredibly pretty, but talking about connections I wasn't able to feel any of them to anything in the Netherlands whatsoever. Indeed I felt drowning in their perfection most of the time. When I left Maastricht it was snowing: the perfect city, clean, opulent, covered in a blanket of snow... not my cup of tea. Now I realise that out of the many places I have seen around the world, the ones that I loved the most were the dustiest, the most chaotic, the loudest (Lisbon, Rio, Tel Aviv). But anyway - the risotto.
THE USUAL RISOTTO
1 kg prawns
1 lime
1 shallot
chilli pepper
320 gr riso carnaroli
basil
oil EVO (2 spoons+2 spoons+1 spoon)
1/2 glass white wine
I peeled the prawns and put the shells into a pot with oil EVO, fried some 5 minutes, covered with water and brought to boil to make a nice fish stock. In a large pan, I fried a sliced shallot and chilli pepper with oil EVO and added the rice. After a couple of minutes, I added the white wine and put the heath to its highest. when the wine was evaporated, I started adding the fish stock. In a small pan I pan-fried the prawns cut in pieces for no more than 1 minute. When the rice was almost ready, I added the prawns, lime zest and basil leaves. Salt to season. Serve to a friend you love with all your hearth!
