A Citrus Season Recipe

By Hanna Ashton-Lawson

Is there anything more glorious than rows of citrus trees; plump lemons and oranges dangling from dark, glossy leaves? What a joy it is to see such a bounty of fruit in the wintertime, when most of the garden is sleeping.

Al and I have a greengrocer box arrive each week, full of fresh seasonal fruit and veggies that are deemed too “ugly” for supermarkets. Presently, the boxes feature many, many oranges. So along with juice, salad dressing, and orange and poppyseed muffins, I’m digging out all of my favourite orange recipes.

This recipe is from the stunning Bitter Honey cookbook by Letitia Clark. This collection of recipes from Sardegna highlights the beauty in the simplicity of rustic, homely cooking on the Italian island. Usually I find risotto more work than the outcome is worth, but this meal is truly heavenly!

Saffron, Orange and Marscarpone Risotto (Risotto allo Zafferano)

Ingredients

1.5 litres of stock

110g butter

2 small white onions, finely diced

400g (2 cups) arborio rice

Good pinch of saffron strands dissolved in hot water

150ml white wine

1 heaped tablespoon of marscapone

80g parmesan, grated

zest and juice of 1 small, sweet orange

1 teaspoon sea salt

Method

Pour the stock into a deep saucepan over a medium heat.

Melt 70g butter in another deep saucepan and fry onions gently until translucent. Add rice and saffron and stir for a minute. Add the wine and cook until it has been absorbed into the rice, stirring all the time. Add the hot stock ladle by ladle, stirring after each addition until the rice absorbs the liquid.

The cooking process should take around 17-20 minutes. Once the rice is al dente and the liquid has been mostly absorbed, set it aside for the mantecatura, or ‘creaming’.

With a wooden spoon, beat in the rest of the butter, marscapone and parmesan. Beat well until a beautiful creamy sauce is formed.

Serve with some of the orange juice, half of the zest, check seasoning and add more salt and orange juice to taste. Serve with an extra dollop of marscapone and the remainder of zest sprinkled on top.