Goat Cheese & Strawberry Bruschetta

Feb 24, 2014

Sweet, ripe strawberries with honey-flavored goat cheese on a toasted baguette – a simple but tasty appetizer or dessert sure to surprise guests.

Prep Time:10 minutes    Cook Time:10 minutes   Servings:4

Ingredients
3 cups fresh, ripe strawberries
1 baguette, thinly sliced into 16-20 slices
6 ounces soft goat cheese
2 tablespoons honey (or local Bermuda honey if available)

Directions
– Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast baguette slices in oven for 10 minutes or until crisp. Cool.
– Using a small paring knife hull strawberries. Slice each strawberry into several thin slices holding strawberry intact so that strawberry may be fanned out when complete.
– Stir goat cheese and honey together in a small bowl; spread about 1 tablespoon onto each bread slice.
– Place strawberries on toasted baguette slice fanning strawberry over cheese. Repeat with remaining strawberries. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

NOTE: Plan to make 30 minutes before serving.

Strawberry Risotto

Feb 24, 2014

Plump, sweet strawberries are in season. Instead of using these favourite springtime fruits for dessert, try this sweet and savoury Italian risotto recipe from Academia Barilla. Strawberry Risotto is traditionally served as a first course appetizer.

Prep Time: 40 min     Cook Time: 20 min     Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Watch how to prepare and cook Academia Barilla’s Strawberry Risotto.

6 cups water
1 onion, small
1 stalk celery
1 carrot, small
2 ½ oz butter
12 oz Carnaroli rice (or Arborio rice)
½ cup sparkling white wine
8 oz strawberries
salt to taste
1 ½ oz grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Preparation:

Prepare a vegetable broth:
Wash and peel the carrot, celery and half an onion. Place them in a pot and cover with cold water. Place on the heat and bring to a boil. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes from the boil. Season with salt only at the end of cooking.

Once the broth is ready, prepare the risotto:
Carefully wash the strawberries. Remove the leaves and dice all but 2 or 3 berries, which you should leave whole for the garnish.

Melt 1/3 of the butter in a pot over medium heat.  Then add the other half onion finely chopped and stir. Once the onion is golden, but before it browns, add the rice. Stir and toast the rice until it absorbs the butter and is almost transparent.

Add the wine to the pot and stir. Once the wine has almost completely evaporates, begin to add the broth a couple ladlefuls at a time. Wait for the broth to almost completely evaporate before adding more broth.

After 12 or 13 minutes of cooking the risotto, add the chopped strawberries. Stir and continue cooking by adding more broth until done. The rice should need another 4 or 5 minutes.

Taste the rice for flavor and doneness. If necessary, adjust the salt. As soon as the rice is al dente, remove it from the heat. Mount the rice by stirring in the grated Parmigiano Reggiano and the remaining butter.

To plate the risotto, try garnishing it with finely diced or sliced strawberries.

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Academia Barilla is the first international center dedicated to the development and promotion of Italian Gastronomic Culture. Located in the heart of Parma – the capital of the Italian Food Valley.