Risotto alla Primavera

A Seasonal Supper for April that is a celebration of spring

“Alla Primavera” is kind of a catch all name for spring cooking. Of course, not without good reason. If you see *something something alla Primavera* on a menu then you may well know roughly what to expect - beautiful spring veg will feature, perhaps some herbs and wine or lemon too. It will be light, delicate, tender and yet crunchy somehow. It has however been sadly misused as a term in that gauche kind of way us Brits can take things. Pizza Primavera (vom), Quiche Primavera, Sandwich Primavera, Steak Primavera - I could go on.

For me, its best examples in the Italian canon are in pasta or frittata form, or as we see here today, in the shape of a risotto. I did a little digging into the origins of this dish. Unlike many Italian recipes, Risotto alla Primavera didn’t come from a spectacularly beautiful hilltop at a time of need. According to legend, this dish was first found on the menu at Harry’s Bar in Venice under the hands of chef and owner Guiseppe Cipriani in the mid 20th Century. Harry’s is a cult institution, and is also allegedly (wow, I feel like I am writing a true crime podcast) responsible for inventing the Bellini and Beef Carpaccio. It does make sense to me that it would be in the Veneto that such a dish could be created. There is great risotto culture in the gastronomy of the region, not least in thanks to the native rice grain Vialone Nano. Risi e Bisi, another famous Venetian rice dish, a kind of risotto-soup hybrid that celebrates the humble pea, feels strikingly similar.

There were only a couple of strict guidelines that I could find regarding Risotto alla Primavera. Firstly - the base should always be white ie. no tomato, red wine, no beef broth. That’s fine, I thought, that’s what I normally do anyway. Secondly; only FRESH spring vegetables should be used, NOTHING frozen. Well, that’s where I draw the line. You will have to prize my beloved frozen peas out of my cold, dead hands, Signor Cipriani.

For our version, we are going to cook some of the vegetables in the risotto, and some of them separately. This is because I have opted to use artichokes, newly in season and very definitely a spring vegetable yet somehow ignored in most versions of this recipe. Artichokes work best as a chic little topper here, with our asparagus tips, some herbs and lemon. They lift the risotto, are a delicious treat at this time of year, but need a delicate cook separate to the rice. It’s worth saying that the vegetables in my recipe are by all means interchangeable, see the end of the recipe for swaps.