Risotto with Savoy Cabbage and Sausage

I think savoy cabbage is so pretty with its lacy leaves and bright green color.  I saw this recipe and I wanted try it out.  My first roadblock was lack of Arborio rice.  When I opened my bag of rice it wasn’t fresh any more.  It smelled completely rancid!  First step: send my P.S. (Passionate Shopper/ spouse) for fresh rice. While I waited for rice, I’d start chopping the condimenti ingredients.

A condimenti is simply anything used to enhance flavorings in a dish.  The cabbage, onion, carrot and sausage sautéed together would provide all kinds of flavors to the basic risotto recipe.  I heated a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil and sautéed the sliced sausage until it was nice and browned in places.  Those caramelized meat flavors would be stunning in the risotto.  I set the sausage aside in a dish.

I shredded the carrot next then tried to shred the cabbage.  That just wasn’t working for me, so I cut it into fine pieces and did a further rough chop to make the pieces smaller.  If you can shred the cabbage, go for it!  My methods did work just fine for the finished dish.

Prepare condimenti: sauté onions and carrots in olive oil for several minutes. Add savoy cabbage and marjoram and sauté until cabbage is al dente to your preference.

In a separate skillet I added the olive oil, carrots and savoy cabbage and stirred occasionally.

Return sautéed sausage to skillet and keep condimenti warm until needed.

Then I read the recipe again and realized I’d sautéed in the wrong order.  Carrots and onion should have gone first, followed by the cabbage.  Oh well, it worked fine.  I added the onion to the carrot and cabbage, then added the marjoram and let it sauté until the cabbage was wilted and still slightly crunchy.  You can judge the amount of crunch you want in your dish.  I liked a little texture to this risotto.

Sauté onion in butter until translucent. Add rice and sauté for several minutes until center of rice is white.

Meanwhile, my P.S. had returned with the Arborio rice.  I’d added the butter and more chopped onion to a large skillet and sautéed it for a few minutes until it was translucent.  I added the rice and cooked it for several more minutes until the centers of the rice were white.

Add white wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the wine is absorbed.

I added the white wine and let the rice simmer, stirring occasionally, until the wine was almost completely absorbed.

Add 1/3 cup scoops of warm broth, allowing each to absorb before adding another scoop. Stir occasionally

I had my chicken broth heating in a kettle and added it by scoops to the rice.  As each scoop was absorbed I added another.

Add Parmesan and stir well.

When the rice was still slightly al dente, I added the Parmesan and stirred well.

Add condimenti to rice and stir.

Next I added my condimenti to the skillet and stirred it into the risotto.

Let risotto simmer for several minutes. Taste test for seasoning and serve hot.

I let the condimenti cook and blend into the risotto for several minutes, adding more broth as needed.  I did use almost all of the chicken broth, although the recipe had suggested there would be broth leftover.

Risotto with Savoy Cabbage and Sausage

I taste tested for seasoning, found it was just right and served dinner.

Risotto with Savoy Cabbage and Sausage

My P.S. loved the dish, although at first he thought the rice was still crunchy.  I pointed out the crunchy bits were the Savoy cabbage and we agreed it was an interesting change from our traditional risotto.  With the addition of the cabbage, it loses the creamy texture of a regular risotto.  Not such a bad thing, as it is flavorful and totally satisfying served as a meal in itself.  And so very colorful!