Al fresco in the great chill

I’ve chosen a risotto, which is usually absent from my summer menu, because I wanted to find some “freshness” in a dish that is usually reserved for the “big chill” season. This is why I’ve decided to use aromatic herbs, due to their persistence and their capability of giving a balanced acidic note to the Birra Moretti Baffo d'Oro during the cooking process. To finish the dish, I add some ember aromatised oil, with its bitter and smoky note, which finely completes the balance of the dish also thanks to the caciocavallo cheese. 

Risotto, Birra Moretti Baffo D’Oro, aromatic herbs, caciocavallo cheese and ember aromatised oil

Recipe for 8 people

INGREDIENTS
500 g of rice
1 tablespoon of ember aromatised oil
Parmesan to taste
Caciocavallo cheese to taste
½ a lemon (juice and rind)
basil, marjoram, thyme, rosemary to taste
450 ml Birra Moretti Baffo d’Oro
vegetable stock (for the cooking)
salt
pepper

METHOD
for the oil
Get some artisanal embers, the most natural possible. Take a steel pot and put inside the previously burnt embers and heat on the stove. Add some bay leaves, rosemary, thyme and let everything burn. Then pour the extra virgin olive oil in order to put out the embers: the oil, being cold, removes the oxygen so the mixture starts to smoke. Close the pot with a lid and leave to infuse for a night. The following day strain with a cotton or linen cloth.

for the risotto
Start by toasting the rice. Add salt and the juice of half a lemon. Then soak with the Birra Moretti Baffo d’Oro. Continue to cook for 16 minutes and once the rice is cooked leave it to rest adding the chopped aromatic herbs (marjoram, thyme, basil and rosemary), a little Parmesan cheese, the ember aromatised oil and the grated rind of half a lemon.
Lay out the risotto on a plate and finish with some grated caciocavallo cheese.