Spring brings with it lots of wild herbs, used for years and years as a cleansing from winter. Taking a trip out of town you can choose to go and seize fields, but fortunately also in cities you can buy wild herbs, although in very few places. I in Rome, the city where I live, from Piccola Bottega Merenda I bought chamomile and borage, and I used the borage to prepare a delicious risotto, decorated with its purple flowers.
Ingredients (for 4 people)
320 g of brown rice Rosa Marchetti
150 g of fresh borage (leaves and flowers)
1 onion
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
Proceedings
Clean the borage flower and retains some for garnish. Boil for 3 minutes borage and conserves water that you use as a broth to cook the rice.
Meanwhile put brown the onion with oil in a pan and add the rice; toast the rice stirring for 2 minutes. Add borage coarsely cut with a knife and stretches with two ladles of boiling vegetable stock (borage’s water).
During the cooking water should be always at the height of rice, then add a ladle from time to time when the water dries up. In the final add the salt.
Once cooked, serve the risotto by adding on top in every dish the fresh flowers of borage.