Kohlrabi Risotto
Published March 4, 2012
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 pound kohlrabi, preferably with some greens attached
7 to 8 cups well-seasoned chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
½ cup minced onion
1 ½ cups arborio rice
1 to 2 garlic cloves (to taste), minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
½ cup dry white wine, like pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc
¼ to ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (1 to 2 ounces)
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)
58 grams carbs; 14 milligrams cholesterol; 381 calories; 4 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 8 grams fat; 5 grams fiber; 1097 milligrams sodium; 15 grams protein; 7 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Peel the kohlrabi, making sure to remove the fibrous layer just under the skin, and cut into .5-inch dice. If there are greens attached, wash, stem and blanch them for 1 minute in salted boiling water. Transfer to a bowl of cold water, drain, squeeze out water and chop coarsely. Set aside.
- Step 2
Put your stock or broth into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat, with a ladle nearby or in the pot. Make sure that it is well seasoned. Turn the heat down to low.
- Step 3
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a wide, heavy nonstick skillet or a wide, heavy saucepan. Add the onion and a pinch of salt, and cook gently until it is just tender, about 3 minutes. Do not brown. Add the diced kohlrabi and the garlic and cook, stirring, until the kohlrabi is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
- Step 4
Add the rice and stir until the grains separate and begin to crackle. Add the wine and stir until it has evaporated and been absorbed by the rice. Begin adding the simmering stock, a couple of ladlefuls (about .5 cup) at a time. The stock should just cover the rice, and should be bubbling, not too slowly but not too quickly. Cook, stirring often, until it is just about absorbed. Add another ladleful or two of the stock and continue to cook in this fashion, adding more stock and stirring when the rice is almost dry. You do not have to stir constantly, but stir often. After 15 minutes, stir in the greens from the kohlrabi. When the rice is just tender all the way through but still chewy, in 20 to 25 minutes, it is done. Taste now, add pepper and adjust salt.
- Step 5
Add another ladleful of stock to the rice. Stir in the Parmesan and the parsley and remove from the heat. The mixture should be creamy (add more stock if it isn’t). Serve right away in wide soup bowls or on plates, spreading the risotto in a thin layer rather than a mound.
Advance preparation: You can begin up to several hours before serving. Proceed with the recipe and cook halfway through Step 4 - that is, for about 15 minutes. The rice should still be hard when you remove it from the heat, and there should not be any liquid in the pan. Spread it in an even layer in the pan and keep it away from the heat until you resume cooking. If the pan is not wide enough for you to spread the rice in a thin layer, then transfer it to a sheet pan. Fifteen minutes before serving, bring the remaining stock back to a simmer and reheat the rice. Resume cooking as instructed.
Private Notes
Comments
To accommodate dietary restrictions (dairy, alcohol) I added a half cup of the broth instead of the wine. A vegan sauce of 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, 2 Tablespoons nut milk, 1/2 teaspoon miso and water to make 1/2 cup went in a minute after the greens, and instead of the cheese, 1/2 cup grated mixed macadamia and tamari almond nuts. Tasted delicious, the kohlrabi chunks tased as though they had been cooked in butter. Oh, also sauteed the greens 8 minutes in olive oil with garlic before adding.
I made an adaptation of this. Instead of arborio rice, I used farro. I had a little less than a pound of kohlrabi, so I added turnips, + kale. Other than that: I followed the recipe pretty closely. It was absolutely delicious. I will add this to my regular meal rotation. Thanks!
Good as is, but better with diced ham and gruyere — two flavors that pair very well with kohlrabi.
Most Ohio grocery stores don’t carry kohlrabi any longer, but one of the farmers at our city market has it in the spring and I’ve made this recipe for years. It’s very good as written (though 6 cups of stock is plenty), but it’s designed to highlight the faint sweetness of the veg so the dish is a little one note. Tonight I started with chopped bacon, browned it and left some of the drippings in the pan before proceeding from step one, and added the cooked bacon in with the greens (chopped frisée, because the greens on the kohlrabi weren’t appetizing). Turned out great! I like another reviewer’s suggestion of ham/gruyere and will try that next time.
This was really good. I made it vegan with Follow Your Heart shredded parm and it was delicious and creamy. In addition to the diced kohlrabi and greens, I also chopped up the kohlrabi stalks and added them with the onion. The kohlrabi is really nice in this
I used Trader Joe’s umami spice a little after I added the garlic (probably about two teaspoons). I did blanch and add the greens so there’s a little complexity there. I also added some sweet corn and a bit of grated Gruyère in addition to shredded pecorino Romano. I also added some smoked paprika, cayenne, and black pepper .Overall, I felt the kohlrabi doesn’t do enough work here to use the original recipe, but it’s always riff-able. It was a good way to get rid of kohlrabi but next time I’ll try something new.