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Risotto with Branzino

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  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 4-6 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 whole Branzino (Sea Bass), about 18-inches long
  • 5 whole black peppercorns
  • sea salt
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Several thyme leaves
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 2/3 cup Arborio rice
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

  1. Scale and clean the Branzino, leaving the fish whole.
  2. In a large pot, bring 6 quarts of lightly salted water to a simmer. Toss in the peppercorns.
  3. Add the cleaned whole fish to the pot and simmer until fish has almost cooked through. The meat inside will look white and opaque, and will be slightly firm to the touch.
  4. Remove the whole fish from the pot of water, but do not empty out the pot. Keep the water simmering over low heat.
  5. Gently remove the meat from the bones and separate the meat into bite-sized pieces.Cover and set aside.
  6. Return fish bones and all fish scraps (including head) to the pot of simmering water. Add bay leaf and a few thyme leaves. Bring to a gentle boil and continue cooking until about 1/3 of the liquid has evaporated, making a broth.
  7. In a wide, heavy-bottomed pot/Dutch Oven, heat 4 tablespoons of the butter and the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add shallot and saute for a few seconds. Add rice, stirring constantly until lightly toasted.
  8. Pour in wine and raise heat to medium until wine has evaporated.
  9. Cook the risotto by adding ladle-fulls of hot fish broth and stirring almost constantly until each addition of broth has absorbed before adding the next ladle-full. (Use the ladle to skim broth from the top of the pot without including any fish bones or bits).
  10. Continue adding broth and cooking until rice is tender and broth is nearly gone, about 20-30 minutes. Rice should be tender, but not mushy.
  11. When rice is cooked, remove from heat and gently stir in the pieces of fish meat, the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the parsley.
  12. Serve hot.

Notes

Adapted from La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy by The Italian Academy of Cuisine

Find it online: https://kitchenjoyblog.com/risotto-with-branzino/