Ingredients
From Chef Mark Reinfeld's menu for A Holiday Vegan Feast:
Cook's Note: Choose ripe Anjou, slightly under ripe Comice, or very ripe Bosc pears for this tart. Serve with a dollop of crème fraîche.
[This recipe is part of Sally Schneider's fall menu, which includes Bruschetta of Wild Mushrooms, Herb-Scented Tuscan Pork Roast, Roasted Winter Squash Puree and Rustic Rosemary-Apple Tart.]
The basic method of making risotto will never change: you cook the rice slowly and add broth gradually, so the starchy inside of the rice kernel expands as the outside layer dissolves into creaminess. Risotto feeds the soul and can take a whole range of flavors. I like the pumpkin risotto here, but try a shrimp risotto using shellfish broth, adding a pound of peeled shrimp at the last minute and letting them cook no more than 5 minutes. Or how about a green risotto, with a bunch of watercress or a few handfuls of spinach, chopped fine? Or a mushroom risotto with a pound of sliced fresh mushrooms added to the dried porcini mushrooms.
Make this hash for a weekend brunch or as an easy weeknight supper. I like to serve it with a tossed green salad or a steamed vegetable and a crusty loaf of bread. Pass Tabasco or other hot sauce at the table; the vinegary, smoky flavor of hot sauce complements the rutabagas, bacon, and chiles. Poach eggs to place on top of this hearty hash. The runny soft-cooked eggs are a perfect accompaniment.
Leftover parsley and walnut pesto is great with spaghetti.
Ingredients
Bitter greens with candied lemon peel, pine nuts, balsamico, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese become a salad destined for the holidays.
Ingredients