Spinach Risotto With Taleggio
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 8ounces cold taleggio
- 10ounces/8 packed cups spinach, any thick stems removed
- 6tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1medium red onion, finely diced
- 3cups finely diced celery
- 2garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
- 1½cup Arborio rice
- 1teaspoon fine sea salt, more as needed
- ¾cup dry white wine
- 3½cups good vegetable or chicken stock
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
495 calories; 23 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 16 grams protein; 903 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Cut the rind off the taleggio and discard. Dice the cheese into ½-inch pieces. Set aside at room temperature as you prepare the rice.
- Step 2
Line a colander with a clean dish towel and place spinach inside. Heat about 8 cups of water until boiling, then pour over spinach; the spinach will wilt. Let spinach sit until cool enough to handle, then use the dish towel to squeeze out the water. Transfer spinach to a food processor and blend with 1 tablespoon butter until smooth. (You’ll end up with about 1 cup of purée.) Reserve.
- Step 3
Melt remaining 5 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, celery and garlic; cook until translucent, about 7 minutes. Stir in rice and 1 teaspoon salt, and cook until toasted and golden, about 5 minutes.
- Step 4
Stir in wine and cook until it’s absorbed, about 3 minutes. Stir in stock, about ½ cup at a time, stirring often but not necessarily continuously, until the stock is finished and the rice is cooked through but not mushy, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Step 5
Stir in spinach purée, then taste and add more salt, if needed. Add taleggio and stir to melt. Serve immediately.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Annie
Is there any cheese substitution for the taleggio?
PeppaD.
That's seems like an awful lot of celery.
Kate NYC
What I do is zap the spinach in the microwave (put it in a bowl covered with plastic wrap) for a minute or two until wilted. When it’s cool enough to handle, just squeeze it with your clean hands to remove the excess water. You’ll get the same result and won’t have a stained kitchen towel.
Jack
Trust your instincts - wringing the spinach out with a towel is an unecessary step. It's risotto so any excess moisture from the spinach will be absorbed.
katetld
A lot of kvetching going on here. We made it exactly as the recipe suggested. It was excellent.
mummy of 3
Made this for my children so I drank the wine, halved the stinky cheese & added shrimp. They loved it & were thrilled to have risotto for once without nasty mushrooms.
nlee
Dicing is more refined, but finely chopping the onion and celery in a food processor was a lot faster! Was pleasantly surprised that 3 cups wasn't too much celery at all; it adds a subtle lightness and texture that helps balance the strong taleggio.
LH
Why wring it, losing the nutrients, when the dish requires liquid and can use that liquid to cook?
Bonnie S
I adapt any risotto recipe according to Melissa Clark’s instapot cookbook - sauté the aromatics, toast the rice, absorb the wine, then add the broth and pressure cook on high for 6 minutes, manual release. Finally, stir in your cheese and your add-ins. Total liquids (wine and broth) should be about 3 3/4 to 4 cups for 1 1/2 c Arborio rice. This method hasn’t failed me yet.
Charles Michener
This is a superb risotto. But its success lies in the details: 1) Carnaroli rice is better for this dish than Arborio, since the latter yields a mushier result and the former keeps the grains more distinct; 2) Dice rather than slice the onion for a smoother finish; 3) Use good homemade stock, half chicken, half vegetable; 4) Chop rather than puree the squeezed MATURE spinach to save on cleanup and VIGOROUSLY stir in the spinach at the end; ditto the cheese. Give it a rest before serving.
Jill
I recently cooked a Persian dish with 5 cups of celery, and I was amazed at how it almost dissolved in the cooking and was not at all overpowering.
mosaic
I departed from the recipe to make use of what was on hand and couldn’t be happier with the results: a bag of frozen spinach and some fresh dandelion greens, chunks of miscellaneous cheeses left over from cheese boards, the tail end of a flinty bottle of Pinot Grigio. While I’m sure that the results would have been delightful as written, I’m happy that it is such an accommodating base for variations.
Carol Sacks
Great dish. Not a fan of Taleggio, so subbed in half Cravanzina cheese (less funky but super creamy and great for melting) and half mozzarella. Really great flavor. Don't skimp on the celery, which provides great flavor. Be sure to chop finely as it takes a long time to soften.
Kaeli
Stuck to the recipe with the exception of substituting for Fontina cheese and the vegetable broth for 3.5 cups of water plus a tablespoon and a half of vegetable bouillon (I know seems like a disgrace, but trust me it's my new favorite tool in the kitchen). This recipe nailed it. Topped it with some halved cherry tomatoes. Was perfect use of the celery because actually used everything I bought. No celery going to waste this week.
Sally
But celery, even by itself, is fabulous in risotto.
mgt
Don’t use this cheese. Heavy and sticks to stomach. Spinach part was great though. Try with Parmesan? Or a hard cheese like conte?
Rita
I made do with what was on hand. The puree method for the spinach worked great. I did the risotto in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes - perfect. I didn’t have celery and want to make again with it and subbed Parmesan as that’s what was on hand. Delicious with Kenji’s Easiest Crispest Pan seared fish (sea bass). Great dinner!
CK
My wife is having a no onions/no garlic moment, so skipped those. Bulked up the celery instead. No open white wine on hand, so subbed in a chicken stock/vermouth cocktail to begin with. An absolute winner.
Ashish
Follow the recipe exactly as written. It is perfect. But yes, I did squeeze the spinach with my hands. No point in making a mess of a kitchen towel.
jessica
Ignore the notes below--it is sophisticated and perfect as is--#flawless.
AF
Working on some CSA produce so subbed fennel for the celery, which worked great.
Sara Parks
Use port salut cheese- so much better! Don’t skip wine. Add more rice.
Sara Parks
Used port salut cheese- so yummy! Add extra rice, don’t skip wine.
Max Alexander, Rome
This is a very good risotto, and I say that as a resident of Italy. I substituted beet tops for the spinach as we had them at the local farmer's market; like chicory they are stronger than spinach and more characteristic of nettles (which we find sometimes). One quibble: Italians are finicky about garlic and onions, rarely putting both in the same dish; it's a cultural thing. I omitted garlic and used the famous sweet red onions of Tropea.
ADQ
This is one of my favorite new risotto recipes. We had a bunch of fresh spinach from the garden and we put it to great use in this dish. I only used two tbls of butter, substituting olive oil for the rest. And because the grocery store did not have taleggio, I used brie and only half of the pie piece. And only two cups of celery. It was still excellent. We served with spicy chicken sausage, which was the perfect compliment. I might add some shitakes next time, which seem like a nice addition.
ATpici
Made with kale and spinach and 7 oz of cheese…was good but would’ve still been good with less cheese
Wheels
I used shallots and leeks, no celery in the house when I decided to make this. Made it with a pound of nettles from the farmers market that were blanched for 30 seconds and blitzed in a processor with the butter and a lil bit of the stock. Used 2oz of Parmesan and 2oz Tallegio. Also added about 1tsp cracked black pepper as it wasn’t mentioned in the recipe.
Sarah
Replaced celery with fennel and made this with AR stewed tomato and meatball recipe. It needed the acid to cut through the Taleggio! And the meatballs to break up the texture of the risotto. Would make again! Loved all the spinach it required, great for using up my CSA vegg.
Sarah
I replaced the celery with fennel and it was lovely. I thought the spinach was going to be too much, but it was not at all! A great way to use a bunch of greens. I made some jammy stewed tomatoes and meatballs with this. I felt it needed the acid and meat to cut through the rich flavors of the Taleggio and consistency of the rice.
Erika
I thought this was a nice base recipe, but kind of boring. It could really be taken up a notch with some herbs (fresh oregano?), a more full-bodied white wine, and possibly shallot instead of onions. Definitely going to try all that next time. I did add 1 chicken breast chopped and sauteed in OO and poultry seasoning to give it some protein, then sauteed the veg in the fond left in the pan, which was nice.
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