Meera Sodha’s recipe for radicchio and chianti risotto

Bitter ingredients are not to everyone’s taste, but, amid these darkest months, they make me feel alive. I love Seville oranges, grapefruit, brassicas, bitter greens, chicory and, most of all, radicchio. I like the burgundy-spotted castelfranco (great for salad with citrus and cheese) and the long-locked tardivo (best cooked with balsamic vinegar), but radicchio di chioggia is the popular leader of the pack. A chubby little cabbage-y nugget with a middle-of-the-road bitterness that becomes milder, sweeter and more delicious, especially when cooked alongside a large glass of juicy chianti and finished off with a snowy dusting of parmesan.

Radicchio and chianti risotto

Only a couple of the major UK supermarket chains sell radicchio di chioggia, and you’re most likely to find it at a farmers’ market or online via retailers such as Abel & Cole and Natoora. Other red wines may be used in this recipe.

Prep 15 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 4

For the risotto
60g unsalted butter
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 radicchio di chioggia (about 400g), finely chopped
350g arborio rice
250ml chianti
Fine sea salt
1 litre hot vegetable stock
5 grinds of pepper
70g vegetarian parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve

On a medium heat, melt 40g of the butter in a heavy-bottomed pot for which you have a lid. When it starts to froth, add the onion and sweat, stirring, for six or seven minutes, until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic, cook for two minutes more, then add two-thirds of the radicchio and cook for about four minutes, until wilted.

Add the rice, stir to coat the grains, then cook, stirring, until they turn semi-translucent. Pour in the chianti, stir to combine, then leave the rice fully to absorb the wine. Add three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and a couple of ladles of hot stock, then stir until the liquid is absorbed. Keep adding the stock a ladleful at a time, stirring until each ladle is absorbed before adding the next, for about 20 minutes, until the rice is al dente. Stir in the pepper and 50g grated parmesan, then dot the top of the rice with the remaining 20g butter. Turn off the heat, put the lid on the pot and leave the risotto to rest while you make the pesto.

In a bowl, mix the extra-virgin olive oil, sage and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, then stir in the walnuts, the remaining finely chopped radicchio, the lemon zest and juice, and the remaining 20g parmesan. Mix really well, check the seasoning and adjust as required.

Spoon the risotto on to a plates or shallow bowls and top with some radicchio pesto and a final showering of grated parmesan for good measure. Drizzle over some extra-virgin olive oil and serve with the remaining pesto alongside.