Risotto of the Vigil

Wine: Chateau La Canorgue 2006

We bought some really excellent pears at Whole Foods.. They were very sweet. We made a Salad, of arugula, pear slices, toasted walnuts, saba, and a great Basque Blue Cheese from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. I sprinkled some fresh pomegranate seeds on the salad to add Christmas color.

For the second course we made a special risotto. It is from The Splendid Table cookbook by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. We really recommend this Italian cookbook.

The risotto is called: Risotto of the Vigil. It is made with beef, carrots, onions, celery, sage leaves, cabbage and salt pork. In addition, Cathy added marrow bones for extra richness. However, Cathy thought to replace the salt pork with a fatty chunk of prosciutto. It was an inspired exchange. At the end Parmesan Cheese is mixed in and sprinkled over the Risotto. We make the risotto once a year around Christmas. The risotto was great.

We had purchased more beef than we needed (a chuck roast), so we cubed the remaining unused beef and raided the pantry to create a great a great Vegetable Beef Soup. I added onions, garlic, celery, potato, tomato to the stock. It was delicious. Los Angeles has been cold and raining and we have really enjoyed the soup for lunch.