Prosecco Kale Risotto

As our first non-recipe recipe!

She’s heree! The first exclusive recipe of this newsletter! And as I was brainstorming how to categorize these recipes that won’t live on my blog, the phrase “non-recipe recipe” was the only thing that made sense. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still get ingredients and measurements and instructions, but these recipes are much more adaptable, customizable, and riff-able (if that’s a thing?)

All of these exclusive newsletter recipes will be things that I impromptu cook up in my kitchen, or favorite staples that I’ve never made into a video. The instructions will be brief and straightforward, and I encourage you to make them your own, you know?

Now let’s get into it!

“Really Justine, your first newsletter recipe is going to be an hour long?”

……Yes. Welcome to newsletter world where I follow zero! rules! But this one is worth it, I promise.

I like to categorize cooking in two ways: cooking just to get food made, and then cooking as an activity. Both are valid - I have tons of 10 minute meals on my site already (hellooo gochujang chickpeas & edamame salad) - but sometimes I’m just in the mood to open a bottle of wine (in this case bubbly wine), stand over a stove, put on a podcast, turn my brain off, and cook. It’s like romanticizing a mini moment of your afternoon, and a minimal-ingredient risotto is perfect for it. It needs just enough attention to keep you busy, but not enough attention to make you stressy. It’s a stir-here, drink-here, chat-here, stir-again kind of food, and you’re left with a creamy, dreamy, amazing result. The key here is you want a prosecco that is cheap enough to cook with but good enough to drink, because you’ll be doing both. It’s a good time!

Prosecco Kale Risotto

Serves 4

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp kosher salt, plus more as needed

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 of a small white onion, finely diced (around 2/3 cup)

• 1 cup of risotto rice or short-grain sushi rice, I like Arborio, which you can get at most stores

• 1/2 cup of prosecco, or a reasonably measured wine glass pour

• 3 tbsp butter, or vegan butter works as well

• 4 stalks of kale, stems removed and roughly chopped, about 2 cups worth

• 1 lemon

• 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan, optional

• A few cracks of fresh black pepper
  

Instructions:

• Set up two sections of your stove. Put a large pot on one burner and fill it with water, add the 1 tbsp of salt to the water and put it on medium heat. On another burner add a high-sided pan, I like the Our Place pan (not an affiliate link) or something similar for this.

• Put the pan on medium heat and add the oil and the onion. Season with a bit of salt and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is soft, about 5-7 minutes. Then add a splash of water and continue to cook, about another 4-5 minutes until the onion is completely soft and almost melty.

• Add in the rice and stir quickly to make sure it is completely coated in onion + oil. Cook another 5 minutes until you see the sides of the rice turn clear, this means they’ve taken on some of the oil and you can add in the prosecco. Let the prosecco simmer to cook off the alcohol, it should evaporate fully in about 2 minutes.

• From here, your big pot of water should be at a low low simmer. Now for the fun part, for the next 20-25 minutes, scoop in a large ladle of water (about 2/3 cup) into the risotto and stir constantly until the water is absorbed. Then repeat the process. Keep repeating in about 3-minute increments until the risotto has gotten thick, creamy and soft. You want to constantly stir here, because this releases the risotto’s starches, giving us that classic, creamy risotto texture we know and love.

  • ***This is also the time to pour yourself a glass of wine, have a chat with your partner, tear up your kale…you get it

• Check the rice after 20 minutes, and if they grains are soft with no bite to them, you are done!

• Turn the heat off of both burners, but leave the pan on the stovetop. Add the butter and stir to combine. Then add the kale and let the heat from the risotto naturally melt the greens into the creaminess. Squeeze in the juice from one lemon and season with salt to taste. If you’re in a cheese mood, add half your parmesan here and save the other half for topping. If you ever need to, add another splash of water from the big pot to thin things out.

• Serve in big bowls with more parm on top. Add black pepper because it looks cute. Enjoy with your favorite people :)