Risotto Bites

First things first - I spent the weekend in London, and I had such a great time! I was invited by Johanna, the Passionate Cook, and she kindly let me stay with her wonderful family just a short ways from London centre. On Saturday, we went to the food blogger's picnic at Henley. It was nothing short of amazing - it was great to be able to meet a few fellow bloggers - Jeanne, Christina, Andrew and of course Johanna - and their friends and families. And the food - oh, the food. I will post pictures later. I think the drinks made the most impression me though - because I finally got to taste Pimm's. Oh, heavenly nectar - I loved it. And is it sold in Sweden? No, it is not. I bought two bottles at the airport, and will hoard them.

Now, back to some regular scheduled wedding woes. Just to recap - getting married on Saturday, doing the cooking myself, planning on 60 guests. Stupid? That's my middle name.

My biggest problem has been to come up with something small and savory to serve with the bubbly. I got a ton of suggestions right here, thank you all - and one of them was Ilva who had just posted on her blog about these risotto squares. I made them, and loved them. Per didn't, so we won't serve them at the wedding, but they're excellent, and I'll definitely make them for dinner, or for picnics. Here's the recipe - I followed Ilva's but it's in Swedish so a bunch of you can't read it. I did use a bit less rice than she did, because it seemed a little much to go with that quantity of stock. Just use your usual amount for that amount of stock - all rice behave differently. And I added some dried mushrooms I happened to have - chanterelles. You can probably go with porcini, I think they're similar.

And - oh yeah - I've finally made up my mind. Johanna showed me a great book - Canapés by Eric Treuille and Victoria Blashford-Snell - and I promptly bought it in London on Sunday. It has a recipe for savory sablés - perfect. I've made two kinds - one with sharp cheddar and poppy seeds, and one with roquefort. Both taste great. Will post about them later. I also made a savory biscotti from the book - with green olives and pine nuts. I haven't tried them yet, but they look great.

Back to the risotto, yeah?

Risotto Squares

200 g arborio rice
1 onion, diced
500 ml vegetable stock
two large handfuls of shredded parmesan
2 eggs

about a cup of dried mushrooms
hot water

butter
breadcrumbs
salt
pepper

Fry the onion gently in 25 g of butter. Add the rice, and fry for another minute. Add the stock, all at one time, and cook until the rice is done. Meanwhile, soak the mushrooms in hot water. When done, squeeze gently and add to the rice. Toss away the soaking water - it will be bitter. Take the risotto off the heat, and let it cool.

When it's cool, preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. (350F) Butter and bread an oven-proof dish. Beat the eggs, and add to the rice with half of the parmesan, salt and pepper. Pat into the oven proof dish, and top with the rest of the parmesan and small pats of butter. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden and bubbly on top. Let cool, and cut into squares.