Riso, patate e verza (a very comforting brothy rice)
Riso, patate e verza (a very comforting brothy rice)
Plus flatiron steak with cafe de Paris-ish butter and crunchy onion rings and nostalgic cinnamon doughnuts
Hello!!
Today’s newsletter is a real goodie!
I’ve just returned from The Sorrento Writers Festival where I was on a few panels, one with icons Stephanie Alexander and Belinda Jeffrey. We chatted about the art of the cookbook and could have spoken for hours! Was a real joy!
On that topic, more news about my new book coming soon! I’m so excited to share more soon!
Next week I am returning to my hometown Adelaide to cook at the Tasting Australia festival. There are still some limited tickets available for my event ‘Sunday Best’ on Sunday 12 May, and I would love to see you there. We all know Sunday’s call for something special – even more so on Mother’s Day!
I’m excited to be cooking with Darren Purchese from Australia’s British Bake Off, Alex Crawford known as The Sugar Man, and Tom Robinson from The Lane Vineyard on what will be an incredible event.
There was also a lovely feature in today’s Sunday Life Magazine about couples and how they met. Nori and I made a little appearance!
But let’s chat recipes!!
The first on which is very comforting, super simple and extremely humble. One which is quite bistro-esque and a nice one if you’re entertaining friends or family and want to impress. And a third which uses very basic in its ingredients, but a real treat to be able to make at home.
First it’s riso, patate e verza which translates simply to rice, potatoes and cabbage. It might sound a bit bland, but truly, it is one of my favourite recipes to make in autumn and winter. I like it a little more brothy than stodgy, and now with cabbages costing much more than they once did, I think it is actually a rather celebratory meal of the season. It’s important to get the best ingredients you can since there are so few of them. For my risotto or risotto adjacent dishes, my go-to is Acquarello. Honestly, it is just so so good and well worth the money. I tried to bring back a few kilos of it last year on my way back from Italy but learned the hard way that rice is definitely not allowed to be brought into Australia. Sigh! Luckily it is available here.
The butter isn’t particularly traditional here (the dish hails from Naples, very much extra virgin olive oil territory), but it adds to the creaminess of the dish. You could also use a light chicken or vegetable stock, but water is more than fine!
Nori had a craving for tempura and we decided to go a slightly different route. A French-leaning dish of perfectly cooked flatiron steak with crunchy onion rings. I was tossing up between making an aioli or a butter and went with the latter. It’s inspired by cafe de Paris butter and is very much up for adaption to taste.
Lastly, a dish which came about because we still had a pot of clean oil after making the onion rings! Frying isn’t something we do that often at home but who doesn’t love a fluffy cinnamon doughnut! My secret to these delicious doughnuts is a flour and water roux (known as Tangzhong or Yudane) cooked out and added to the mixture. It gives them a nice chew whilst keeping them fluffy.
I hope you enjoy and thanks for subscribing!!
Julia x
Riso, patate e verza
Serves 4-6
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
400 g cabbage, chopped
300 g potato, peeled and diced
200 g carnaroli or vialone nano rice
40 g parmigiano reggiano, finely grated, plus extra to taste
1 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 8-10 minutes or until soft and just beginning to colour. Add the cabbage and potato and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring to coat.
Cover with 2 litres of water, increase the heat to high and bring to the boil. Reduce to low-medium, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, topping up with more water if needed.
Scatter in the rice and cook for a further 15 minutes, or until al dente. Stir through the grated parmigiano reggiano, butter and season well to taste.
Serve topped with extra grated parmigiano reggiano.
Flatiron steak with crunchy onion rings and cafe de Paris-ish butter
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