Paley’s Place was my favorite restaurant in Portland, and then the chef, Vitaly Paley, moved to Hawaii. I always loved his risotto, but this one with crab and corn takes it over the top! This recipe can be found in his cookbook, The Paley’s Place Cookbook. Making a corn broth was new to me and it created such wonderful flavor without overpowering the Dungeness Crab. Make an effort to find Carnaroli rice, a medium-grain Italian rice, otherwise you can use Arborio. Note that it takes about an hour to prepare the corn broth.
I served with grilled romaine with anchovy-caper vinaigrette and parmesan from the same cookbook. Leftovers heat up beautifully, just add a touch more water, if needed. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Recipe
4 c. corn broth (see recipe below)
1/4 c. olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1-1/3 c. Carnaroli rice (or Arborio)
1 c. dry white wine
6 T. unsalted butter
2 small ears corn, shucked (use 2 from the corn broth recipe below)
1 c. Dungeness crabmeat, drained and picked clean
3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. loosely packed basil leaves, chin into thin strips
1/4 c. basil pesto (either make your own or store-bought)
for the Corn Broth (this is half of the cookbook recipe):
2 qts. water
4 ears of corn
1 T. salt
For the Corn Broth: In a large pot bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the corn and salt and cook 5 minutes. Remove the corn and let cool. Using a paring knife, slice off the kernels from the cobs, letting them drop into a bowl. Reserve corn from two of the cobs for the risotto. Use the rest of the corn in another recipe or freeze for up to 2 weeks.
Halve the 4 stripped cobs crosswise and return to the pot of cooking water. Simmer over medium-low heat until the broth develops a definite corn flavor, about 45 minutes. Strain the broth into a saucepan, discarding the cobs, and keep warm to use in the risotto recipe.
for the Risotto:
In a Dutch oven, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook without letting the onion color until the pieces are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the rice all at once, stir to coat with the oil and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes.
Increase the heat to high, add the wine and continue to cook, stirring gently, until all the wine has been absorbed, about 3 minutes.
Pour in 3 c. of the hot broth and boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Don’t leave the spoon in the pan between stirrings or the rice will not cook evenly.
In a small skillet, melt 4 T. of the butter over low heat. Add the shucked corn and the crab and warm gently for 5 minutes.
After the rice has cooked for 10 minutes, test for doneness by biting into a few grains. When ready, the center of the grain should still have a little resistance and the risotto should still be fairly liquid. If the rice seems too chewy, cook for another minute. At this point, my rice needed a few more minutes. Mix the corn-crab mixture into the rice, stirring gently to distribute, and cook another 2 minutes. When ready to serve, the risotto should be the consistency of porridge. If it seems too dry, thin as needed with more broth. I used all the broth plus another 1/2 c. or so of water to get it to the right consistency.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining 2 T. butter along with 1/2 c. of the grated cheese and stir vigorously for about 1 minute. The texture will become creamy and the butter and cheese completely incorporated. Stir in the pesto.
Serve in individual bowls, garnished with basil and the remaining 1/4 c. of Parmesan.