Potato risotto alla Vastese

Potato risotto alla vastese recipe

This is a quick rice dish that the grandmothers of Vasto have passed down to us. Homemade tomato sauce makes it even tastier.

 

Ingredients for 4

  • 70g pancetta (unsmoked bacon) diced
  • ½ of a medium onion chopped
  • 2 sticks celery chopped
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 500ml tomato sauce
  • A few leaves of basil
  • 400g short grain white rice
  • 4 small potatoes
  • Salt
  • Water and a large pot for boiling rice Parmesan cheese

 

Directions

In a saucepan, sauté onion, celery and pancetta in the olive oil until onions soften slightly. Add tomato sauce and ¼ tsp salt. Simmer over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut into cubes about 2cm x 2cm. Bring the water to a boil. When it boils, add 1 tsp salt, rice and potatoes and boil until rice is almost done (subtract 1 minute from the normal boiling time).

Be careful not to overcook it. Remove about 250ml of the water in which the rice was cooked and set it aside. Drain the rest of liquid off. Return rice and potatoes to the large pot and add the tomato sauce. Add some of the cooking liquid as needed to obtain a risotto-like consistency. Serve dusted with grated parmesan or grana padano cheese.

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