Calm Yourself With Risotto

Kitchen work is soothing work to some. There's something zen about stirring polenta or grating chocolate. The same is true with risotto. The constant stirring, usually in a figure eight  is both calming and comforting.It's one of the most relaxing tasks for a home chef.

Melissa Clark wrote about this in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Her A Good Appetite column was devoted to it and the woman who inspired the piece.  Ruth Rogers, chef and owner of the River Cafe in London loves to stir her rice.The motions and rhythms soothe anxiety - and Ms Clark was anxious about creating Chef Rogers' recipe for nettles risotto. The recipe is part of a brand new cookbook River Cafe London which salutes the restaurant's thirtieth anniversary. It also celebrates the eatery's classic recipes updated for a new generation of home chefs.The nettles risotto is one of the trickiest to make. nettles are those sharp stingers that hurt when touched with bare hands. Dealing with them in a home kitchen means the rubber gloves have to come out. Luckily spinach can be subbed in  They have a rich mineral taste  like the other and taste wise they can easily be interchanged. No one will know the difference.

Ms. Clark's accompanying recipe reflects this change. There are eight packed cups of spinach involved. These are stemless because it could make the risotto stringy.Another reason why she wanted to make the rice dish is the taleggio. This is a creamy, sharp cheese from the Alpine region of Lombardy that's added last to the dish. Like most arborio dishes this one is also labor intensive. The spinach has to be placed in a colander and has to have boiling hot water poured over it to wilt the leaves.Then the water has to be squeezed out with a dishtowel before the leaves are being transferred to a food processor.There is also celery , onion and garlic that need to be cooked too.The rice is added to this as is three quarters of a cup of dry white wine and either vegetable or chicken stock.It will take fifteen to twenty minutes for it to be ready. The spinach puree and taleggio chunks are them added and stirred into it.If you want it a bit simpler then cut out the cheese and serve it with a sprinkling of Parmesan.Just remember to keep stirring or the rice will stick.

If you're looking for good food and relaxation then go for spinach risotto with taleggio. It's a soothing dish to make if you;re stressed. Even if you'e not , it's still a great dish to make on a cool Spring night.