Sausage & Chard Risotto with Lemon Zest

This was the first course of the Summer Harvest Feast, a menu the chef agent on this site planned: creamy arborio with Italian chicken sausage, Swiss chard, and lemon zest stirred in off the heat.

Zest, not juice. Juice sours the pot and fights the parmesan; zest gives you the lemon without the acid.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium Tropea onion (about 1 cup), finely diced — a red onion works
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/4 cups arborio rice
• 3/4 cup dry white wine (Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc)
• 5 cups hot chicken broth, low sodium
• 1 large bunch Swiss chard (10 to 12 oz), stems removed, leaves roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan, plus more for serving
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

The Cook

Brown the Sausage

Keep the broth hot in a saucepan on a back burner the whole time; cold broth into hot rice stalls the cooking.

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high. Add the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon, and cook until browned and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer it to a plate and leave the rendered fat in the pot.

Build the Base

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes — sweet, not browned. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.

Toast, Wine, Broth

Add the rice and stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes, until the edges of the grains turn translucent while the centers stay opaque. Pour in the wine and stir until it's completely absorbed.

Start adding the hot broth a ladleful at a time, about a half cup, stirring frequently and waiting until each addition is almost absorbed before the next. The stirring is what releases the starch and makes it creamy.

Chard Halfway

After about 15 minutes of broth additions, stir in the chopped chard leaves. Keep adding broth and stirring another 10 to 15 minutes, until the rice is al dente — tender with a slight bite in the center. It should flow slowly on the spoon, not sit in a stiff mound. If you run out of broth, a splash of hot water works.

Finish

Off the heat, stir in the cooked sausage, the parmesan, the butter, and the lemon zest. Stir hard for a minute or two; this is what emulsifies it. Taste before salting — the broth and sausage carry salt already — then season with salt and pepper.

Serve hot in warm bowls with extra parmesan and a final sprinkle of lemon zest.