Another week, another food from books recipe. Today is all about a book that was quite heart breaking and that made me cry a bit (or, well, okay, a lot). The book features many recipes and few of them are actually doable (or seem doable) because they are used as a coping mechanism more than anything else. So today’s blue cheese and leek risotto is an inspiration from this book and I hope you all enjoy it.
Ingredients to make this blue cheese and leek risotto
So the main ingredients are basically in the title of the recipe: blue cheese and leek. But here some variations:
- Blue cheese, leek and bacon for the original recipe.
- If you want to make this vegetarian, drop the bacon and add some smoked tofu if you want more flavor in your risotto.
- For a vegan version, if you do find blue cheese that’s vegan, you can totally go for it. I have never seen it in France but I’m sure a version exists!
Obviously, you will need arborio rice and white wine to make this. Both are key ingredients to make a great risotto.
The cookbook of common prayer by Francesca Haig, a quick book review.
This book was quite heart-breaking: a family drama filled with great characters and good writing. The chapters are from different point of views : each character in the book gets its own chapters. The story starts when Douglas’ parents are contacted and informed that their son has drowned in London. The parents (Gill and Gabe) will travel to London and do the all the administrative stuff they must. The story kicks in when you find out that Sylvie (the daughter) has an eating disorder and the parents decide to lie to her and not tell her her brother has passed away.
A book about coping, family trauma, grief and just a lot of emotions. A very original take on how different members of a family can cope with such a situation. Throughout the book, Gill, the mom, who is a chef, writes recipes to help her cope with what has happened and it’s very “refreshing” because you rarely see this type of content.
Alternative or similar recipes to this risotto
I have posted a couple of risottos on tofucado so here they are :
Blue cheese and leek risotto with crunchy bacon
Course: LunchCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy2
servings5
minutes25
minutes30
minutesIngredients
2 servings of arborio rice, uncooked
6 bacon strips (3 per serving)
125g of blue cheese (I used “Bleue d’Auvergne)
1 big leek
3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp unsalted butter
4.5 cups of vegetable broth
2/3 cup of white wine
1 tbsp rosemary
2.5 tbsp italian seasoning
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions
- Cut the leek and garlic in thin slices.
- In a pot, melt the butter. When melted, add the leek and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Add the rice & the seasoning and mix well. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Deglaze with the wine and after a couple of minutes, add 2 cups of vegetable broth.
- Simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on. Mix well and then add the chunks of blue cheese.
- Add more broth once all the cheese is melted and continue adding till the rice is cooked (roughly 10 more minutes).
- When the risotto is almost done, cook the bacon on a separate pan till crunchy.
- Serve with risotto and top it with the bacon. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
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