CHEESY SPELT WITH PANCETTA & MUSHROOMS
CHEESY SPELT WITH PANCETTA & MUSHROOMS
+ some sizzling hot takes on risotto, new music and A.A. Gill.
Hello everyone,
Welcome back to How I Cook+! Thanks for being here and for spending a few quid each month on my food writing, I really appreciate it.
This week, I’m delivering some more sizzling hot takes than usual. I’m outing myself as a mild risotto hater and offering an autumnal alternative. There’s also some music I’m only half into (the half that is good is really, really good) and a book by one of the most controversial food writers of all time.
Scroll down to read the whole lot,
B x
Cold, isn’t it? Well it is here in the U.K. For my antipodean readers, summer’s on the way, and we’re all very jealous…
What autumn does offer, is the opportunity to cook hearty, rich plates of food like these! I’m delighted to share this recipe with you this week. It’s a real winner, and one I’m very proud of. It was born out of a few different food opinions and wants, the first being, that I don’t really like risotto much and the second, a plate of mushrooms and eggs I ate once in Spain.
The problem with risotto…
Hear me out… This is the closest we’re going to get to a risotto for the time being… Making risotto is a well trodden path and to be honest, I don’t love eating them. I like arancini, suppli and I actually love a tomato risotto. But a risotto bianco with a few peas or lemon and parmesan just isn’t the one. This is probably because I’ve had quite a lot of crap risottos. To be honest, what I ought to do is try and hunt down the best risottos in the world and have them change my mind… I’m writing to you this week from Milan, Italy. Here, the saffron risotto topped with a big fat hunk of braised veal (known as Osso Bucco) is a regional classic, so I better keep my opinions to myself. As with most Italian food, it’s expected that a cook ought to follow the staunch rules of preparation. This leaves most home cooks with stodgy, bland risottos that tick the eat-loads-of-carbs box but on the whole, fail to charm the palette with much else.
Whilst I’m not a big classic risotto man, what I do love is using other grains to make braised, risotto style dishes. Pearl barley, farro, fregola and orzo are all ace for this task. Spelt is a fantastic grain for whipping up a risotto style plate. It retains an amazing chew, has an incredible, toasted bread flavour and isn’t so starchy that the resulting plate is super stodgy. It holds its shape, suspends in the cooking liquid and has a delicious earthy, nutty flavour. A beautiful alternative to boring old arborio… Just don’t, please don’t, call it a spelt-otto, or anything stupid like that.
Toppings
One of the main things I think risottos do wrong is have a load of stuff stirred through them. Invariably, that flavour gets a little lost, or at the very least, subdued by the starchy mass that envelops it.
The natural flavour of arborio rice (the classic risotto rice from Italy) just doesn’t have the same punch as something like spelt. Spelt carries an incredible, toasted brioche, earthy flavour into dishes like this and with that in mind, I like to make the base of the plate really, really simple. I cook the spelt with a little onion and garlic, add white wine and then cook the spelt through with good quality chicken stock. Finished with butter, comté cheese and lemon, you have a rich, nutty, powerful base for something delicious to sit on top.
I’ve gone for a nice autumnal garnish for this with the garlicky sauteed mushrooms, but as with a risotto you can finish this spelt with just about anything. It’s carte blanche. In the springtime, top with blanched asparagus, peas or broad beans. In the winter, roasted squash or pumpkins with crispy kale and in the summer you could spoon over a zippy tomato salad.
Mushrooms & Egg Yolks
There’s a place in Spain called San Sebastian and there’s a restaurant in San Sebastian called Ganbara. If you’ve heard of either, then you’ve probably seen their plate of sauteed wild mushrooms served around a warm, raw egg yolk. It’s an achingly simple plate, but ever since I ordered it, it’s been wedged in my mind, ready to be cooked in some form or another. I figured it might make a happy crown for our spelt today, and I reckon I was right.
Wild mushrooms are very delicious right now, so go and buy some! Most supermarkets here in the U.K. will sell you a pretty good punnet of mixed mushrooms. You’ll find shiitake, oyster, king oyster and cauliflower in there. The little golden mushrooms in the picture above are called girolles. They’re probably my favourite mushroom ever and are a little harder to get hold of, and will set you back a hair more than the stuff from the supermarket, but are worth it. I picked these up from the grocer down the road, if you’ve got a grocer, they can probably order you some! Don’t be afraid to ask the question. They take very little cooking and are absolutely delicious with a little garlic, smoked pancetta, lemon and chives. It’s a winner.
I love the rich texture the egg yolk gives this dish. Once stirred through the spelt it gives a beautiful richness and works in a similar way to the egg in a classic carbonara, enriching the dish and giving a really luxurious, unctuous texture. Yes, raw egg yolks are totally fine to eat! You can leave however leave it out if you want to, I’d suggest upping the cheese a little to ramp up the richness.
This recipe will serve 4 and take you about an hour to put together.
INGREDIENTS