The Italian Dinner Party.

Ciao,

It's not a secret that I love restaurants. I've loved restaurants even as a baby. My parents love to tell the story about how I just knew I was somewhere special when I was in a restaurant. As a teenager, if there was the mention of going out to dinner - that's what I would be excited about all day. Movies? Nah. Dinner? Yes!

Even now, I skim a menu before arriving. I read travel and food blogs and make reservations weeks in advance. But, a lesser known secret is I often prefer to cook. It's cathartic and if I'm cooking for someone else, I'm tremendously happy.

During my last visit overseas, we were on Italian soil for roughly 48 hours. The highlight of the larger trip, and probably 2017, was visiting our friend Andrea and attending an intimate dinner party at his girlfriend Giorgia's house in a small town of Montegaldella near Padova.

Giorgia, who is in the fashion industry, is a warm and inviting person, from the moment you meet her. Even though we were surrounded by four other native Italian speakers - we felt like we belonged.

For dinner Giorgia prepared a selection of appetizers and pumpkin risotto for the main course. She also served a great deal of wine, Andrea being in the wine industry certainly helped I'm sure. Channeling these moments in Italy, I made risotto last night exactly the way my kind Italian friend does.

I'll warn you, the technique breaks the typical style of how American risotto is made and we (me) hotly debated the use of butter at the end. Andrea, in his thick Italian accent said, "No, Carolina, absolutely no butter! Anyone can make risotto creamy with butter. The trick is to not use butter."

I'm not sure if I was rendered speechless because I haven't been called Carolina since my Italian great grandmother passed away or that butter was banished. Butter makes everything better, I argued quietly in my head. But, I listened. And now, I'll share it with you.

Here are the details:
Olive oil
Two shallots
Garlic. I used one clove.
Butternut squash or pumpkin
Arborio rice. 1.5 cups
Vegetable or chicken stock - I used what I made previously and froze. 4 cups. Heated on the stove.
White wine. Somewhere between 1-1.5 cups
Salt/pepper to taste
Taleggio cheese
Sage

The trick to the Italian-style risotto that we had is to heat the olive oil, add the shallots and garlic until they soften. Then add the squash and let it cook down. After a few minutes, add the rice and stir everything together.

This was a departure for me, yet I studied my Italian teachers.

Add the white wine. I used what I had on hand -- a Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc. I'd say a cup is enough. Possibly a scant more.

Once the wine has cooked down, add a ladle or two of warm broth. Stir frequently and repeat until the broth is finished. I ended up using probably five cups.

While the rice is cooking, I heated more olive oil in a pan and added the sage until it was crispy. Allow to dry on a paper towel and I add a tiny bit of salt. Reserve until the end.

Slice the buttery, creamy tallegio.

Once the rice has absorbed all of the broth and it's not crunchy - add the cheese. Stir until it's melted and creamy. To me, this is what the butter adds. I honestly, don't think I'll add butter to my risotto ever again. Ever. And to put it gently, I love butter. I think we're getting serious.

Adding the taleggio just gives the dish added depth that the butter couldn't.

Once the cheese has melted, add the crispy sage on top. As evidenced below, I like a lot of crispy sage.

Back in Italy, and once the risotto was finished, our adorable Italian host served us slices of warm pear and chocolate panettone with a glass of prosecco to cap off our night.

I've had plenty of panettone in my life, but never once warm. The chocolate was ever so slightly melted and the pear was a perfect pairing to the chocolate.

My eyes were fully opened on this trip for a dozen reasons. Two tiny takeaways are: I will only add taleggio to my risotto and I will always serve panettone warm with a bottle of prosecco.

Should you make this, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did in Italy and in Chicago.

Ciao ciao ciao.

Your friend,
Carolina