Many are quick to associate risotto with winter due to its creamy texture, but this risotto with nettles recipe is a testament to how the dish lends itself irresistibly well to springime. It calls for three different types of nettles, a leafy green shrub that blossoms in springtime. They're known for jagged leaves and stinging hairs, so gloves are in order for when prepping and/or foraging for them.
You can adjust the recipe if you can't find all three varieties – if you can only get your (gloved) hands on one or two varieties listed in the ingredients, just use those.
Risotto With Nettles Recipe
Photo: Riccardo Lettieri, Styling: Beatrice Prada
Recipe: Davide Brovelli
Skill Level: Easy
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients for 4
12 oz./360 g. Carnaroli rice
11 oz./ 300 g. nettles
4 oz./100 g. false nettles (Lamium purpureum)
4 oz./ 100 g. parietary (Parietaria Officinalis)
1/2 white onion
1.2 liters vegetable broth
dry white wine
butter
Parmigiano Reggiano DOP
extra-virgin olive oil
salt
Clean the nettles, wearing gloves. Separate the leaves from the stems, keeping only the leaves.
Blanch the nettle leaves in boiling salted water for 1 minute, then drain, setting aside some of the cooking water. Squeeze the nettles to wring out the excess water, then blend them with around 3 ⅓ Tbsp./50 g. of oil and a little of their cooking water, until a creamy pesto forms.
Chop the onion and sauté it in a little oil. Add the rice and toast it, then pour in 1/2 glass of wine and mix. Once the rice absorbs the wine, start adding the hot vegetable broth a little at a time. This will take around 12-15 minutes.
Stir in a knob of butter, 2 Tbsp. grated Parmigiano, and the nettle pesto. Complete it
with the false nettles and raw parietaria.
Good to know: False nettles are very common in the meadows, and the parietaria is more widespread in rocky soils. They both belong to the nettle family, and, when it comes to cooking, they have a similar use to spinach.