Lemonade Stand Risotto

Olivia is the queen of the lemonade stand.  Unfortunately for her enterprise, our street doesn't get much traffic.  But after calling around to friends and cousins, she almost always finds a cohort.  Oscar and Chloe sometimes go along to help, but Olivia is definitely the catalyst and the manager.  They sit together out in the sun, eagerly mixing up lemonade, selling, and counting the take. 

I'd love to be able to tell you that we freshly squeeze the lemons for these lemonade stands, but we don't.  For one thing, we would have to spend a fortune on the lemons in order to make enough lemonade for the neighborhood.  The last time the children had a stand, my nephew, Sean, went door to door gathering customers, and we needed a lot of lemonade.  This is a highly subsidized activity, and so far, the children have kept all of the profits (although that may change -- there are some good things for them to learn there), so there is no offset to our costs.  Besides, our only squeezer is a manual one, and if we were squeezing by hand, we would all be suffering from repetitive stress injuries by now. 

 
Instead, we buy concentrate and save the lemons for risotto, among other things.  I had never had lemon risotto until a trip to Sicily.  Gabe and I went there with Sarah and Ed and I remember having this dish under the stars at a restaurant with a beautiful patio.  We had lots of wine that night, including a dessert wine called Zibibbo.  I love the sound of that name so much that I tried to talk Gabe into naming one of our children after it.  Just think of what a cute nickname Zibi would be.  Cooler heads prevailed, fortunately.

This dish, even without Sicily or the wine, is delicious. 

Lemonade Stand Risotto

We eat this risotto as a main course, often paired with greens.  It would also make an excellent accompaniment to fish or poultry, for those of you who eat such things. 

Serves 6 as a main course
10 minutes preparation time
30 minutes cooking time

6-7 cups vegetable broth or water with 2 bouillon cubes
4 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, diced
zest and juice of 2 lemons, divided
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup freshly grated parmesan, divided
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the broth or water with the bouillon in a small stock pot.

In a large pan, heat the butter over medium heat until it melts.  Add the onion, stir, and cook until the onion is soft, 6 to 7 minutes.  Add the lemon zest and rice and stir to coat the rice evenly with butter.  Add about 1 cup of the stock and stir.  Cook until the broth has been absorbed by the rice, stirring occasionally.  Continue adding broth about a cup at a time, stirring and letting the broth cook into the rice before adding more. 

The risotto is done when it is tender to the bite and a bit chewy but still retains its shape.  This usually takes between 15 and 20 minutes.  Add the lemon juice and half of the parmesan and stir.  Taste the risotto and add salt if desired.  Serve immediately and pass the remaining parmesan at the table.

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Comments

[Andrea]

"for those of you who eat such things"? :) We'll stick with tofu around here....I'm wedded to my pressure cooker for risotto, and it looks like this recipe would transfer well. We'll try it.

[Margy]

Andrea, well, I guess I'll have to try it with tofu. Let us know how it turns out in the pressure cooker.