I'm a big fan of pilafs in all their forms: pilau, pulao, plov, biryani, tehari, paella, machbous al d'jaj, chicken bog, jamabalaya… but I generally just can't be fucked making risotto; all that fucking stirring. Unless it's salmon head risotto.
Taking inspiration from Venice's risotto di gò, which I've never had and likely never will, I use a salmon head and frame in place of the gò. Salmon is an oily fish so I figure it's likely a good stand-in.
I make a stock from the head and frame, with a couple of bay leaves, half an onion, and a teaspoon of salt, enough water to cover and simmered for about 30 minutes.
I then scavenge the head and frame for good meat, which you can see from the first photo is plentiful. Just the easy stuff, I can't be fucked working for it and there's lots there.
In another pot, I make a simple soffritto from onion and diced carrot, add pepper and spices, and stir in arborio rice. Then I start adding the salmon stock, one cup at a time through a sieve, stirring until the rice has soaked it all up. I ended up adding about 5½ cups last night for 1 cup of rice. Meat then stirred through, left to rest 10 minutes.
Bloody lovely dish. A lot of work, but worth doing once a year I reckon. A bit greasy so some might not like that.
#salmon #risotto