Rice croquettes with fontina cheese and chives

Ingredients for 4 persons:

250 g Arborio rice; half onion; 40 g butter; 100 ml white wine; about 800 ml meat or vegetable stock; 2 egg yolks; 220 g Fontina Dop; a bunch of chives; breadcrumbs; peanut oil; salt and pepper
To accompany (optional): tomato sauce

Directions:

Remove the rind from the Fontina cheese and cut it into cubes.

Heat the broth, finely chop the onion, and stew in a thick-bottomed pot with half the butter.

After a couple of minutes, add the rice, toast, season with salt, deglaze with wine, douse with a ladleful of hot broth, and cook, stirring often and adding a little broth at a time.

When the rice is cooked and well-dried (it should not be on the wave) remove from the heat, incorporate the remaining butter and Fontina, except for a handful of cubes.

Adjust salt and pepper, mix well, spread out on a plate, cover with clingfilm and cool to room temperature.

Transfer the cooled rice to a bowl, add the egg yolks, finely chopped chives, and a couple of tablespoons of breadcrumbs to make a fairly firm mixture.

Mix well and, with damp hands, form croquettes of about 40 g each by inserting a cube of Fontina in the center.

Dip the croquettes in breadcrumbs, heat 2 fingers of oil in a large frying pan without letting it smoke, and fry the croquettes on both sides until lightly browned.

Drain on kitchen paper to drain excess grease and serve hot.

If liked, accompany with a tomato sauce scented with chives.

Wine pairing:

(Edited by Stefania Vinciguerra)

Trentodoc 1673 Noir Nature 2018 Cesarini Sforza

Intense and bright straw yellow, fine and dense perlage. Olfactory impact characterized by fruity notes, small red fruit, and barley then evolving into more complex, warm and spicy sensations. On the palate elegant creaminess with fine and delicate perlage. Deep sip and long, saline persistence.

Production area: the Val di Cembra, Trentino, an area with perfect soil and climate characteristics necessary for growing grapes intended for the creation of a sparkling wine base. Southeastern vineyard exposure; altitude 500-600 m a.s.l. Loose, sandy loam soil, rich in porphyry.

Grape varieties: 100% Pinot Noir. Guyot and Trentino pergola training system.

Harvest: Grapes are harvested by hand in small containers between late August and the first decade of September.

Production processes: Pressing of whole grapes in the marmonier press. Yield of grapes in wine 45 hl/ha (50% in flower must). The different Pinot Noir selections age on their own yeasts and, in part, undergo malolactic fermentation. In late spring, the cuvée is made, a crucial moment that determines the characteristics of the classic method sparkling wine. After June, the draught marks the beginning of the long journey in the bottle in which, in addition to the second fermentation, the yeasts will accompany the sparkling wine for 48 months. The absence of liqueur dosage during disgorging keeps the profile and soul of this Trentodoc intact, which can thus authentically express its territory of origin.

Alcohol content: 12.5% vol.

Serving temperature:
10°C

THIS RECIPE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY CESARINI SFORZA