Amanda Cohen, chef of acclaimed New York restaurant Dirt Candy, is known for her innovative takes on vegetables. In this dish, she plays with the texture of carrots to see how that changes their taste.
Servings: 4
Ready Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients
6 cups carrot stock
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup diced yellow onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups arborio rice
1/3 cup white wine
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup carrot juice
1/4 diced carrot
3 tablespoon unsalted butter
5 tablespoon grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Salt
2 carrots
1/2 cup cornstarch
8 cups canola oil (or enough to completely submerge carrots)
Method
In a small pot over medium-low heat, simmer the stock.
In another pan, start the olive oil, onion and garlic over medium heat. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until it’s translucent, about 7 minutes. Add the wine and stir until has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and stir until it, too, has evaporated, about 1 minute.
Add 1 cup of simmering carrot stock to the hot rice (both need to be the same temperature). Stir until it’s absorbed, about 5 minutes. Continue adding stock 1 cup at a time and stirring until it’s absorbed. When you have 2 cups stock left, pour the carrot juice into the simmering stock, and let it return to a simmer. Add 1 cup of the stock-juice mixture to the rice and cook until it’s absorbed. Add the diced carrot to the rice and then add the last 2 cups stock, 1 cup at a time.
When the rice looks wet and juicy, but there’s no liquid sloshing around, add the butter, 3 tablespoons of the Parmesan, thyme, and salt to taste; stir until the butter is melted. Divide among four plates.
* To make it vegan, omit the butter and Parmesan.
For the carrot ribbons, use a vegetable peeler to peel the carrots into ribbons. Toss them in the cornstarch.
Heat canola oil in a heavy-bottomed pot to 325 F (use a candy thermometer). Drop in ribbons and pull them out very quickly – it’ll take less than 25 seconds to get crisp. Place on paper towel.
Top risotto with ribbons.