Another dish, which you absolutely must try to get to know and love the gastronomic tradition of Lake Garda, is risotto with tench.
Risotto with tench is one of the recipes of the Massaciuccoli lake tradition. Present in large quantities until the 1960s, the tench has gradually reduced its population due to the introduction of other exotic species that have taken over such as the gambusia and the trout perch.
A typical fish of our area, it has been a source of livelihood for all those who lived and worked in the marshes.
Risotto with tench is one of the peasant dishes of the lake and paddy-field areas; today it is a delicacy cooked by few.
Just sit down at the table of one of the many restaurants in the villages overlooking the lake and be surprised by its delicate but intense flavour.
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients (for 4 persons):
- 2 tench of 800 g each
- 1 onion
- 400 g peeled tomatoes
- 5 sage leaves
- 100 g butter
- 50 g oil
- 1 glass of dry white wine
- 400 g vialone nano rice
- nutmeg
- tarragon
- parsley
- pepper
- salt
Preparation:
Clean the tench very well, cut them into pieces, flour them and salt them. Fry the tench pieces in a frying pan with oil and butter, the sage and thinly sliced onion.
When the tench pieces have browned, remove them and sieve through the cooking juices.
Take a clean pan, put the strained stock into it and add the tomatoes, herbs and wine, leaving it to cook for at least 30 minutes.
In the meantime, break up the tench well with your hands, removing any bones, the bones and the skin, add the resulting pulp to the cooking juices and continue cooking for another 20 minutes or so.
With this sauce prepare the risotto by frying the onion, toast the rice and continue cooking the rice by adding ladles of stock prepared by boiling the tench heads in half a litre of salted water for 30 minutes.
When the rice is ready, mix it with butter and serve hot.
Recommended pairing with Lugana wine.