Risotto with Perch Fillets

This traditional recipe is a great combination of local products and regional gastronomic know-how. It is a simple yet rich, delicious dish,and appears even in the high-brow restaurants. The lake perch is a prized catch for any fisherman, not only in Lake Como, but everywhere in the area. It is a choice fish thanks to the particularly soft, delicate flesh. The risotto will be enhanced if accompanied by a lovely dry white wine, like Franciacorta Bianco, as a good Lombard example).

Ingredients

For 6 persons:

• 800 gr Perch Fillets
• 100 gr Butter
• 2 tablespoons white flour
• 12 leaves of sage
• 500 gr rice
• 1,5 litres vegetable broth
• ½ cup dry white wine
• salt and pepper as needed

Preparation

Finely mince two small onions and sauté in a casserole with 40 grams of butter. When the soffritto is lightly browned, add rice and stir to coat. When the rice is done frying and the grains have become translucent, add the wine letting it evaporate, always stirring.

In the mean time, make a vegetable boiling broth or a fish court-bouillon. Then add broth to the rice, a ladle at a time for about 15/20 minutes, depending on the rice's cooking time. In the mean time, flour the fish fillets and sauté in a pan with 40 gr of butter and some leaves of sage, until browning. Once the rice reaches the al dente stage turn off the heat, place the risotto into a platter and put the perch on top. Sauté the remaining butter with the sage, and pour onto the plate.

Serve it hot.