Scamorza risotto with crispy parma ham

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Opening the fridge, cupboard or freezer looking for inspiration is usually not a safe bet in my house. I would love to say I plan my meals every week before going to the shops, but I am afraid that’s not really the case. On rare occasions there is an awful lot of fruit and veg in the fridge. But yesterday there was just an awful lot of empty space in the kitchen.

What do you eat on these kind of days? Do you cook or just pick up the phone and order Indian food? On Sunday evening I had a massive Indian take away, but that was after working all weekend so it seemed like it was called for. Yesterday I had my mind set on cooking a meal so I kept searching…

While looking for inspiration for yesterdays dinner I realised that there was a small bit of Scamorza cheese in the fridge. Did you ever taste it? It is smoked mozzarella cheese. It is quite a firm cheese with a  lovely smokey flavour but it is still very mild compared to other smoked cheeses

I made a simple risotto base and finished it with a mix of Scamorza and Parmesan cheese. Topped it with crispy parma ham and called it dinner. It is a really solid, hearty meal with lots flavour.  If you never made risotto before I think you should give it a go. It takes a bit of time, a lot of stirring and a lot of tasting (yes!!), but it is all worth it  in the end.

I have a little bit of celery growing in my window. Well, it is just some shop bought celery that I decided not to throw away after using most of the stalks. I put the root part in a glass of water and now I have the most beautiful, tender stalks of celery growing. There is lots of peppery, celery tasting leaves at the top of each stalk. I chopped them and used as a garnish on top of the risotto. I recommend you do the same. Delish!

Scamorza risotto with crispy parma ham
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: dinner
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 300g risotto rice
  • 1 small white onion
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 250ml white wine
  • 1.2l chicken stock, hot
  • 200g parma ham
  • 40g butter
  • 180g scamorza cheese
  • 100g parmesan
  • salt, pepper, olive oil
Instructions
  1. Dice the onion, garlic and celery finely.
  2. Sweat the onion, garlic and celery in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Start off on high heat, then turn the heat down and cook slowly until soft for about 10 minutes.
  4. Turn the heat up, add the rice to the pot and mix with the veg.
  5. Add the wine and cook until the liquid had evaporated.
  6. Add about 100ml of the hot stock to the rice.
  7. Stir to ensure the rice does not get stuck to the bottom.
  8. Keep cooking and stirring the rice until dry, adding 100ml of stock at the time.
  9. Grill the parma ham (or cook on a tray in the oven) until crispy.
  10. When the rice has started to soften and is nearly ready, add the grated parmesan, scamorza cheese and the butter.
  11. Stir until the cheese and butter have melted.
  12. Let it stand for a couple of minutes in the pot.
  13. Serve the risotto with the crispy parma ham and freshly ground black pepper on top.

 

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