Matticoli makes maestro’s dish, Risotto Milanese

A CHEF’S CREATION

By John Tredrea
   Editor’s Note: This is another in a series on local chefs and their creations.
   Three or four times a week, Jim Matticoli heard this: "Maestro is here!"
   That meant it was time to prepare a special risotto dish, with truffles — the basis of the Risotto Milanese recipe Mr. Matticoli made Friday afternoon.
   Jim and Emily Matticoli own Emily’s Café, at 11 N. Main St. in downtown Pennington. He attended cooking school in Turino, Italy, with the Culinary Institute of America.
   "A classical musical conductor ate three or four nights a week at the Turino restaurant where I worked while I was studying with the institute," Mr. Matticoli said. "I don’t know the conductor’s name, I’m afraid — I think he was quite well known — and I never actually even saw him. I was always back in the kitchen. A waiter would just come over to me and say: ‘Ah! Maestro is here!’ That was to tell me I should make this certain risotto dish with truffles. That’s what Maestro always had when he came in."
   Mr. Matticoli has many relatives in Italy and has visited there a number of times. "What a place for food," he said. "I remember going for walks in the country with my Uncle Dominico and picking wild asparagus. You’d use it for a meal right after picking it. Really great."
   Asparagus is a key ingredient in Mr. Matticoli’s wonderfully hearty and flavorful Risotto Milanese. The other ingredients are butter, shallots, Arborio rice, cooking wine, saffron, salt and pepper, fresh grated Parmesan and chicken stock.
   To make four to six servings in less than a half-hour’s total cooking time, heat 2 quarts of chicken stock. In another large saucepan, add 2 tablespoons of minced shallots to 2 tablespoons of butter as the butter melts slowly over low heat. "We just want to ‘sweat’ the shallots — cook them evenly all the way through without adding any color to them. Not adding any color means we won’t be burning them at all," Mr. Matticoli said.
   When the shallots are ready, add 1 pound of Arborio rice and a cup of white cooking wine. Turn the heat up to medium and keep stirring the rice mixture. "You don’t want to burn it, just get it hot and toast it," Mr. Matticoli said. "It only takes two to four minutes. You want the rice firm, not soggy. Test it while you cook it to make sure of that." Periodically as the rice cooks, add the stock, about a ½ cup at a time. When the rice is about half done, toss in a pinch of saffron and salt and pepper to taste.
   "This is one of my favorite dishes; I love to eat it myself," said Mr. Matticoli. "It’s a good cold-weather dish, you can serve it nice and hot and its consistency really holds the heat. One of the ways we serve it here is with braised veal shank. That’s a nice meal. But the Risotto Milanese works well all by itself, too."
   These are busy times for the Matticolis, who live in Pennington a few blocks from their café, which opened a year and a half ago. (Emily’s serves lunch, offers gourmet take-out for dinner and full-service catering.) Jim and Emily have two young sons: 2-year-old Joseph and 4-month-old Massimo.
   But back to the stove! After the saffron and salt and pepper, add 1 cup of blanched and chopped asparagus. "To get the asparagus ready, cook it in boiling water until tender, shock it with cold water, dry it off and put it in the rice mixture," Mr. Matticoli said. "The shocking retains the firmness and color."
   Yes, that asparagus stayed a nice bright green, forming a pleasant visual contrast to the other ingredients. Off with the fire! Now quickly add 2 tablespoons of butter and ¼ cup of freshly grated Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese. "Grate the cheese just before you use it," Mr. Matticoli stressed. "It makes a big difference."
   With the cheese and butter in, stir until the ingredients are evenly blended. You are done!
   Mangiamo! Mr. Matticoli, a self-effacing, soft-spoken sort of fellow, beamed as he regarded the Risotto Milanese. It was a rich, creamy dish — earthiness from the asparagus, floral aromas from the saffron. The cheesiness blended with the asparagus and rice was wonderful. This was a far cry indeed from the boxed risotto mixes you can buy in the store. "It you have any left over, you can form it into cakes or rice balls if you like," Mr. Matticoli said.
   Cooking brought Mr. Matticolo, 33, nearly halfway round the world before he settled down in Pennington to run a business and raise a family with his wife, Emily. As the name of their establishment tells you, she’s at the café about as much as her husband.
   Mr. Matticolo started working in the kitchen of a Ramada Inn on U.S. Route 1 while still in high school. He worked at the now-closed and highly-regarded David’s Yellow Brick Toad in Lambertville for a year. "I learned a lot of the basics and some classic dishes there," he said.
   He also worked in Breckenridge, Colo., about a two-hour drive from Denver, for eight months. "Southwestern cooking," he said. "Wild game, like elk and rattlesnake. Rattlesnake cakes were popular. Similar to making crab cakes."
   He likes to ski and mountain bike when he gets the chance. "That’s almost never since the boys were born," he said. "When we’re not working, we’re with them. Lots of trips to the park and things like that."
   So, signore or signora, if you stop in Emily’s Cafe, just say: "Maestro is here!" Guaranteed you won’t be sorry.