12616 Makes one 12-inch pie Wed Aug 06 07:38:23 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 03 02:37:19 -0800 2009 Licensed http://www.chow.com/recipes/12616 Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:37:19 GMT This delicious risotto pie is light on the rice and ample on the vegetables and herbs, rendering a very green, flavorful pie. The rice binds the pie together and lends a creamy texture to it. Spring garlic is typically plentiful at farmer's markets; if you can't find it, you can substitute regular garlic. Fennel is the prominent flavor in the risotto. This recipe is easily adapted—vegetables, scallops, or shrimp can be substituted. As a rule of thumb, figure 5½ cups of cut-up vegetables or filling to 1 cup of dry rice. Sauté wet vegetables to extract water; cook very hard vegetables with the risotto; and add the delicate ones in at the end. Good substitutions for the fennel might include sautéed mushrooms or roasted eggplant. If you are using another risotto recipe, keep in mind that the ratios in ours lean well in favor of the vegetables. A standard risotto recipe—one heavier in rice—will be too heavy for this pie.

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Salt the zucchini to draw out the liquid and set it in a colander with a bowl underneath to catch the liquid it releases. Drain it for 1 hour. Put the zucchini in a layer of cheesecloth and squeeze out any remaining liquid (most of the saltiness will go the way of the liquid). The zucchini should make 1 tightly packed cup.

Blanch the asparagus in rapidly boiling salted water. Remove it when the water returns to a boil and shock it in cold water. Blot dry. Cut the tips off the asparagus and set aside separately. Slice the stalks into ½-inch pieces. Soak the fennel in cold water to clean out any dirt. Drain.

In a medium pot, heat the stock to a simmer. Melt the butter in a 4-quart saucepan. Add the garlic and sauté it for 1 minute, until translucent. Add the fennel and peas to the pan. Sauté until the peas are bright green.

Add the rice and stir until it is coated with butter. Add a ladleful of hot stock. Stir the risotto constantly over medium-high heat. As the liquid gets absorbed, add a ladleful more broth. This little ladling and stirring dance goes on up to 25 minutes—don't do anything else, just stir and add a little, stir and add a little. Be judicious with the stock toward the end—better to add too little at a time than too much. Cook it for about 25 minutes, until the rice is tender but with an al dente tooth to it; turn the heat off. The rice should be sticky, not loose or runny. Add the zucchini, asparagus, scallions, and Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Stir well and adjust the seasonings to taste.

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Prepare and par-bake the crust, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes to develop the flavor. Add the hot risotto to the hot crust when it comes out of the oven. Fill the crust and sprinkle the reserved topping evenly over the filling. Bake on a lipped baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes, until the top browns.

Cool the pie for 5 to 10 minutes before serving hot. You can also serve this pie at room temperature, and it can be made up to 4 hours in advance. This pie is best eaten the same day it's made.

]]> http://www.chow.com Ron Silver and Jen Bervin 50 Main 2 cups grated zucchini

]]> 1 tablespoon salt

]]> 1 bunch of asparagus

]]> 1½ cups diced baby or regular fennel

]]> 3½ to 4 cups Chicken Stock (page 143)

]]> 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter

]]> 2 cloves spring garlic, sliced very thinly

]]> 1 cup fresh or frozen shelled peas

]]> 1 cup Arborio rice

]]> 1½ cups sliced scallions

]]> 1 cup grated Parmesan

]]> 1 teaspoon salt

]]> 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

]]> 1 recipe Bread Crumb Crust for

]]> 12-inch single-crust pie (page 43), reserve 1 cup for topping

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