The red salad called radicchio it's a typical product of Veneto Region. The famous radicchio from Treviso is long and narrow, while the one produced in Verona is round. It has a peculiar flavor, slightly bitter and intense, and it's perfect as a salad or prepared in various dishes like this risotto.
Ingredients (4 people) :
Rice 320 g (The Veronese Vialone Nano is ideal for risotto!! Otherwise a short grain, not too much refined rice will do the job perfectly)
Radicchio: 400 g
A cup of red wine (With a Veronese Valpolicella or Amarone it will be perfect)
Grinded parmesan cheese: 2 tablespoons
Stock soup: 1litre and a half (If you can get the concentrated soup cubes that are sold in Italian supermarket they are perfect for risotto. Star and Knorr are the most popular brands)
Extra virgin olive oil: 2 tablespoons
Butter: 20g
Half of a small onion
A clover of garlic
Salt and pepper
Let's get started: In a big pot melt the concentrated soup cubes with water and keep it hot.
Cut up the onion and garlic very thin, put them in a different pot with oil and butter and brown them until they get of a beautiful golden color, then add the rice.
Stir the rice until it gets evenly shiny with the oil and butter. Then add the irregularly cut radicchio and stir.
Add salt and pepper and then the wine. Keep on stirring and let the wine evaporate.
Now it's the important point. With the ladle, add some soup to the rice, and keep on stirring so that it doesn't burn until the soup is absorbed by the rice, than add some more soup. Keep on doing like this until you finish the soup and the rice is tender. Turn off gas, add some more butter and the parmesan cheese and stir with energy so that the rice becomes creamy.
Put the rice on a big, flat plate, spread it well on it and add some more parmesan cheese.