CookEat Recipe
Tench Risotto
Rice cooked in a finely strained tench and vegetable sauce, with seasonal pea or mushroom alternatives.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 500 g risotto rice; About 400 g whole tench, cleaned and cut into pieces with the heads retained by the fishmonger; 2 garlic cloves; 2 tablespoons chopped parsley; 1 large carrot; 2 palm-length pieces of pale celery; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 3 tablespoons plain tomato passata, or 1 tablespoon tomato paste; About 1.75 litres water, with extra hot water if needed; Salt and black pepper to taste; Grated Parmesan to offer separately if wanted; Optional: a few basil leaves; 5 g dried edible mushrooms and 20 g butter; or 200 g shelled peas with 1 teaspoon olive oil, 10 g butter and 1 whole small young onion.
Step 2
Use fresh food-grade tench from a reputable fishmonger, gutted and cleaned with the heads retained and gills removed. Finely chop the garlic, parsley, carrot and celery. Put them in a pan with the fish pieces, olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook together, turning frequently, until lightly browned.
Step 3
Add the passata or paste and a little water. Simmer, adding more water gradually, until the fish is thoroughly cooked and falling apart, about 25–35 minutes. Check at least 70°C in the thickest meat. Press the entire mixture through a fine sieve, retaining the sauce and discarding every bone and scale; filter again if any fragments remain. Never blend bones into the sauce.
Step 4
Add enough remaining water to the strained sauce to give about 1.75 litres cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer, add the rice and cook, stirring regularly and adding hot water as needed, until just tender, about 16–20 minutes. Finish fairly dry but moist, without a pool of broth. Serve with Parmesan separately for those who want it.
Step 5
For the mushroom variation, soak the dried mushrooms in hot drinking water, rinse away grit, chop small and simmer them thoroughly in the strained sauce before and during the rice cooking. Stir in the optional butter near the end. The optional basil belongs in the initial chopped vegetables.
Step 6
In pea season, use the 200 g peas instead of mushrooms. Put the teaspoon of oil, 10 g butter and whole peeled young onion in a small pan. When the onion begins to colour, add the peas, salt and pepper and cook briefly, then add a little water and simmer until tender. Discard the onion and stir the peas into the risotto when the rice is almost cooked.
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