Risotto with Burrata, Radicchio and Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

The risotto with radicchio lettuce and burrata cheese is a delicious dish made with the finest, freshest, organic ingredients from Italy. It is very easy to prepare and always gives outstanding results. It is a modern Italian dish that was born with the idea of creating a fabulous combination of flavours: the light bitter-tasting radicchio lettuce from Treviso, in the North of Italy, with the sweet and creamy Burrata cheese from Andria, in the South. It is a dish that really deserves to be tasted to give to one’s palate an unforgettable experience. It has become something of a staple on our menu, our diners appreciating the ‘comfort food’ aspect of a well-made risotto, with the unusual combination of ingredients which can be enjoyed all year round.

Ingredient (serves 4):

100g butter

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

400g Carnaroli risotto rice

1 litre vegetable stock

2 table spoon white wine

180g radicchio salad, roughly chopped

20g radicchio salad finely chopped

40g basil, thinly sliced

100g Parmesan, grated

280g burrata cheese

Aged balsamic vinegar

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh basil.

Recipe:

Melt 50g of butter in a large pan. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent. Add the rice and stir it into the onion, coating all the grains. Add the white wine and stir until it has evaporated. Slowly add the hot stock, a ladleful at a time, waiting until each ladleful has been absorbed by the rice before adding the next and stirring often. After 15 minutes add the radicchio salad. After 20 minutes the rice should be cooked, remove from the heat, add the rest of the butter, the Parmesan and the basil. Check the seasoning and serve at once, add a spoonful of burrata cheese in the middle of the rice, garnished with the finely chopped radicchio and a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Put on the very top some fresh basil.

Particular details:

The Burrata cheese is a modern specialty cheese from South of Italy. It was created at the beginning of the 20th century. Burrata is a cow's milk cheese closely related to mozzarella and actually made with mozzarella curds and fresh cream. The resulting cheese has a creamy texture and a sweet flavour. The cheese is often wrapped in a herb to enhance its unique flavour. Genuine Burrata is only available from Southern Italy, and we source ours from Andria in Puglia.

Radicchio is a mildly bitter tasting leafy vegetable, sometimes called Italian Chicory. This vegetable is very popular in Italy and it is eaten raw with just a bit of olive oil and salt, as well as mixed into a variety of salads. It is delicious even grilled or roasted or combined into other dishes such as risotto.