Risotto with Saffron and Leeks

This is part of tonight's meal when I bring" Italy" into my kitchen! I'll be serving it with the Chestnut Stuffed Pork Loin and Arugula Salad. For wine i choose a Sangiovese which always works wonders with food!

Ingredients:

2 cups of arborio or carnaroli rice

6-8 cups of warm stock ( for this one i mixed half chicken half vegetables)

1 cup of dry white wine or dry vermouth at room temperature

3 leeks (only white and light green parts) thinly sliced

1/4 cup of olive oil

5-6 saffron threads

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fresh chopped parsley

2 tablespoons of butter

1/2 cup of Parmigiano Reggiano (optional)

In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the leaks and cook them over moderate heat for 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the leeks to a bowl and set aside.

Add the rice to the same pan and stir until each grain is well coated with oil and translucent with a white dot in the center, about 3 minutes. Add the wine is stir until is completely absorbed.

Add the simmering stock a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently after each addition. Wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed before adding the next ladleful.

When the rice is tender to the bite but slightly firm in the center and looks creamy, after about 40 minutes, stir in the leeks and saffron threads. Cook for another 5 minutes and add one last ladleful of stock. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, parmigiano,  salt and pepper. Sprinkle parsley and serve it warm.

Chestnut Stuffed Pork Loin

So I picked up a pack of Trader Joe's peeled and cooked chestnuts last november to make Christmas stuffing, decided to go to Brasil and spend 2 months down there and totally forgot about the chestnuts! Was going thru my fridge/freezer last night trying to figure out what to cook for supper today and found the box of chestnuts. Wasn't sure if they were still good but the expiration date is for next year. So glad i will get to use them!
As a good italian girl I love chestnuts! The thought of me , Eric and my best friend Michele siting in the Spanish Steps in Rome, eating roasted chestnuts and sipping on really good organic red wine gives me chills as it brings me back wonderful memories. I'm day dreaming about Italy and wishing i could be there right now! Well, since i can't...
I'll be bringing Italy into my kitchen as i butterfly a pork loin and stuff it with chestnuts. I'll serve it with  a risotto with leeks, tossed arugula salad with a homemade mustard vinaigrette and a wonderful glass of sangiovese! Ciao!

Ingredients:
1 pork loin ( i have small sizes in my freezer so will be cooking a 2lb piece of pork, If cooking a bigger loin just double the stuffing recipe and add 1/3 more cooking time to it).
1 small onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
2 thick slices of day old italian bread torn into pieces
3 oz of chestnuts chopped
1/2 rib of celery chopped
Fresh chopped thyme, parsley and marjoram
Salt and Pepper
EVOO
2 slices of bacon or pancetta
1/2 cup of white wine
kitchen twine

vacuum packed chestnuts

First you roll cut your roast( butterfly). Place the roast on a cutting board and trim off all the fat. Take a very sharp knife and begin cutting on the side, parallel to the cutting board about 1 inch from the board. As you cut, 'unroll' the roast. This is kind of like unrolling a roll of paper towels.
Rub olive oil, salt and pepper all over the roast and set aside.
In a large frying pan heat a glug of olive oil. Add the onions and cook them for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the celery and cook for another 5 minutes. Add bread, chestnut, herbs,salt and pepper and toss it a few times and remove from heat. Let it come to room temperature.
Preheat oven to highest setting. Mine is 550F.
Place stuffing on top of opened pork loin and roll it.

Not too tight and trying to keep all stuffing in there. Tie the twine all around it. Place a couple of slices of bacon on top ( this and the olive oil rub will help keep the moisture). Put roast in a oven proof baking dish and pour 1/2 cup of wine on bottom of the dish.

Place the roast in oven and immediately bring the temperature down to 350F. Cook it for about 1 hour or until you thermometer reaches 155F. On stuffed meats you should take the temperature in 3 or 4 different places since the meat and the stuffing will give you different readings. I go for the lowest i get and if not "up to temp", just cook some more and measure again.

Remove meat from oven and let it rest 15 minutes before slicing it.