This recipe leverages my Risotto Mother Dish Technique. If you haven’t read that post, I recommend you do to get a better understanding of this recipe. Also check out my About Risotto post to learn what’s traditional and what’s not traditional. My risotto is not traditional, but folks really seem to like it.
Per the technique, this recipe uses short grain brown rice and leverages an enameled, cast iron Dutch oven and the oven. The recipe utilizes “cook-ins”, “mix-ins” and toppings. The peaches are “cook-ins,” so they poach with the aromatics and rice in the stock. Since the peaches will release a lot of water during the cooking process, less stock is required. The peach flavor gently permeates the creamy sauce and chunks of peach remain to provide nice peachy bursts of flavor. Fresh basil is added as a “mix-in” during the finishing stage. Finally, when the dish is plated, crumbled prosciutto chips are added as a topping. The prosciutto chips are made by baking slices of prosciutto while the risotto is in the oven. They bake for 10 minutes total, flipping the slices halfway through the process. When removed from the oven and allowed to sit for a few minutes, the prosciutto takes on the texture of a (really meaty) potato chip that is easy to crumble.
A note about ingredients: In the recipe, I specify freshly grated Parmesan cheese and prosciutto as ingredients. These are readily available wherever you live and will work perfectly for this dish. But for the dish in the picture, I used alternatives that are local to me. I used Chapel Hill Creamery’s Calvander in place of the Parmesan. I used Lady Edison Pork extra fancy country ham in place of the prosciutto.
The dish can be made vegetarian by omitting the prosciutto, but that really simplifies its flavor profile. If you go that route, double up on the basil by generously using it as a garnish in addition to what is mixed into the risotto. Another option that I really like, instead of topping with the prosciutto chips, top it with pan fried trout and tomato chutney (tomato chutney recipe coming soon).
Peach Risotto with Crispy Prosciutto
Equipment
- This oven assisted brown risotto method requires a small, enameled cast iron Dutch oven in the 3 to 3.5 quart range.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion (6-8 oz) chopped
- a few cloves of garlic minced
- 4 cups chicken broth divided
- 2-3 oz white wine
- 1.5 cups short grain brown rice
- 1 pound peaches peeled and chopped into ½ inch pieces
- 15 leaves fresh basil (8-10 grams) stacked and sliced into a julienne
- 4 slices prosciutto
- 2 oz Parmesan cheese freshly grated
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter cut into a dozen cubes or pats
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Sauté the diced onions in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil with ½ tsp of salt, over medium heat in a medium sized enameled Dutch oven. The correct amount of oil will make the onions uniformly glisten, but not pool in the pan. Sauté until the onions are translucent. Try not to brown them. Expect 4-5 minutes
- Add the minced garlic to the pot. You do not want the garlic to brown. Stir and sauté for about one minute.
- Add the brown rice to the pot and stir to coat each grain with the aromatic infused oil.
- Add the splash of wine to deglaze any fond that has developed and stir until the wine has mostly been absorbed by the rice.
- Add the chopped peaches, along with 3 cups of the stock, saving the 4th cup of stock for the finishing steps.
- Increase the heat to high and bring the pot to a full boil. As things are heating, taste test for seasoning. It probably needs some some salt at this point, but how much depends on the how salty your selected broth is. At this point the broth should be well-seasoned.
- Once a full boil is reached, cover the pot and transfer to the 375 degree oven, where it will gently simmer for 50 minutes. Set a timer to remind yourself!
- While the risotto is cooking in the oven, prepare the prosciutto. Lay the 4 slices individually on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven with the risotto. After 5 minutes, remove the prosciutto, flip the slices over, and place back in the oven. After another 5 minutes, remove the prosciutto and allow to cool. Once cooled, the prosciutto slices should be textured like potato chips. Crush the slices and reserve for plating.
- After 50 minutes, remove the risotto from the oven, open it and give it a quick stir. Expect the rice to be fully cooked and properly hydrated, with no residual liquid. The peaches will be very soft.
- To finish, stir in the butter, then stir in the remaining 1 cup of broth. Finish by stirring in the Parmesan cheese and the basil. Parmesan cheese can turn stringy if it is over-stirred, and risotto is all about creamy and should never be stringy! One last taste test for seasoning. Stir in a bit more salt only if it needs it.
- Finally, plate. Portion the risotto and top with the crushed prosciutto chips.
Notes
- The recipe specifies freshly grated Parmesan cheese, which works wonderfully. But, full disclosure, I often use a cheese that is local to me; Calvander from Chapel Hill Creamery. It's more in the Asiago way. If you have a local, aged cheese that you would like to substitute, I highly recommend it!
