Pages

Sunday, 10 May 2015

Seafood Risotto and an Italian Deli experience

Of all the countries I have visited, my first choice would always be Italy.  I first visited with my parents when I was 15 years old and immediately fell in love with the markets, the architecture and the art.  It took until 2009 before I was able to return and found it was even better!

Montalcino
Of course, for me, food is a really important part of my holiday and it's lovely to try to recreate dishes that you have tasted on holiday.  Getting the right ingredients makes all the difference when making dishes from another country.  I was delighted when UFUUD contacted me to try some products from their extensive selection.

An Italian Deli in Montalicino
UFUUD is the UK’s place to buy Italian food online, it is synonymous with high quality and tradition. As the number one portal in the UK to purchase traditional products, they offer a wide array of exclusive goods that come from 60 local producers throughout 16 regions of Italy. Some of their most popular products include cold cuts, pasta, ready-made sauces, oil, rice, vinegar and sweets, to name a few. At UFUUD  they have the passion to satisfy the tastes of everyone looking to savour the tastes that are the foundation of our country’s gastronomy.

Here is what I ordered from UFUUD :

The website it easy to use and each product comes with detailed information about the product including the ingredients (where appropriate) conservation information and chef's advice.  Search the site by FOOD, DRINK, ORGANIC OR PROMO.


The products in the photo collage above were used in the Seafood Risotto. The carnaroli is a lovely quality, creamy but it didn't disintegrate when cooked in the risotto.   I loved the big soft chunks of long fin tuna, quite unlike those I usually buy in a tin, it was much more like real fish.  The marinated anchovies were soft and delicious and not overly salty.  The Romaniae Terrae Pecorino caused some comment from the family who asked why I had a 'roll' in the fridge!  The cheese is semi-hard and has a good strong flavour.  I found the wheat berries a bit of an annoyance as they are too hard to eat.  I dare say they add flavour to the cheese.  The other ingredient is my wild garlic pesto.

Seafood Risotto
Serves 4-6

1 tbsp olive oil from the Long Fin Tuna
1 onion, finely chopped
250g Carnaroli risotto rice
900ml fresh fish or vegetable stock, hot
4 tbsp wild garlic or other green pesto
180g Long Fin Tuna, drained
40g Marinated Anchovies
240g prawns
100g Romaniae Terrae Pecorino


  1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. 
  2. Add the rice, stir for 1 minute, add a 50ml of stock and simmer until evaporated then add 400ml of the stock and simmer again, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, until most of the stock has been absorbed.
  3. Add the remaining stock and repeat, cooking for a further 10-12 minutes, until the rice is cooked but still has a slight bite to it.
  4. Stir in the pesto and cook for 1 minute.
  5. Remove from the heat, stir in 60g of Pecorino finely chopped or crumbled and season to taste.
  6. Add the tuna, anchovies and prawns and gently stir into the risotto.
  7. Serve with the remaining 40g of Pecorino in finely shaved slivers over the top.


Other dishes that I have made with the goodies from UFUUD are Taragna Polenta for my Mackerel with Madeirean Special Sauce.




I used a little of the left over chocolate pastry from the Double Chocolate Tartlets to make some mini tartlets and filled them with a mixture of cream cheese, double cream, some of the juice and chopped up cherries from the Sun-Cooked Morello Cherries and, of course, a cherry on top, absolutely gorgeous.  The only thing about these cherries is they have the stones in, so you do have to be careful of your teeth!

The Cinnamon Chocolate Bar  is rather gritty in texture, but has a really good chocolate flavour.

This little jar of Mostarda, Spicy Fig Mustard, undoubtedly stole the show.  I just loved the contrast of the sweet, jammy fig chutney and the spicy mustard. At £9.00 it's expensive for  160g  so definitely a special treat.  It would be possible to buy substitute products at a much lower price, but it is precisely the quality of the products that UFUUD stock that makes them worth having.  Not everything is expensive, many of the products such as the pastas and polenta are good value, as well as good quality.  But there is no doubt that UFUUD provide an authentic deli experience and I certainly will be visiting again.

15 comments:

  1. I love Italy. We went there on honeymoon and i long to go back. Your risotto looks gorgeous

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alison, it's such a lovely place and perfect for a honeymoon.

      Delete
  2. I adore, Italy and Italian food, seeing this has made me hungry for seafood risotto. I love it so much.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That risotto looks so delicious. Makes me want to be on holiday NOW!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too Sus, but then I'd like to go on holiday every day!

      Delete
  4. Fab seafood risotto! I'll need to check this site out, I'm always on the lookout for more exciting Italian foods. Italian food rocks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Galina, so many lovely food on that site.

      Delete
  5. I have been commissioned to do a recipe for Ufuud too and I have to say that I am really impressed with the quality of stuff I got sent. The balsamic in particular was really good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh that's good to know Danni, I haven't used my balsamic yet, will look forward to that.

      Delete
  6. I like your fancy collages Janice. I just tried one in my latest post, but I don't have the artistic eye sadly!

    I've always wanted to go to Italy and I STILL haven't been. I loved UFUUD and was really impressed with the range and quality of the produce. I blew most of my allowance on a big wad of Parmesan. The spicy fig mustard sounds delicious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. You really need to try get to Italy it is such a lovely place, the foods are quite expensive but, as they say, you get what you pay for and I wasn't disappointed with anything.

      Delete
  7. I always shy away from seafood in risotto and I'm not entirely sure why considering that I LOE paella. This is tempting me to give it a go :) thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Well... Italian food definitely has its unique characteristic among European food. I like risotto very much because of its creamy texture and flavors. All ingredients in one pot can give me great satisfaction and always so versatile to add various ingredients. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I LOVE Italy and was there just last year in Rome and Florence, the food was JUST amazing. This looks to be a wonderful recipe and I'm sure I's love it as it has seafood in it!

    ReplyDelete

I love to read your comments and try to reply when I can. I have had to enable comment moderation due to high levels of spam, so it may take a little time before your comment is visible. Please let me know if you make one of my recipes or if you have any questions I will try to answer them. Janice