Recipe below: Riso Nero Venere with Scallops, Saffron, Pastis, and Basil
A good way to expand your cooking knowledge is by buying an ingredient you don’t use and making yourself cook with it. Sounds obvious, but I think we all know how easy it is to recycle the same things over and over (penne with tomato sauce again?). I recently bought a bag of riso nero, Italian black rice, just because I hadn’t cooked any in years.
Riso venere, or Venus rice, as they call it, is mostly grown in the Lombardy and Piedmont areas. As I said, it had been a while, so I wasn’t expecting its color to change with cooking, from black to a very dark, sultry, gorgeous purple. A lovely thing to witness. I’m thinking that tells me it’s got a lot of the same antioxidant properties as other purple and red foods such as berries and grapes. When I looked it up, I found that it is in fact rich in fiber and in minerals like calcium, manganese, selenium, magnesium, phosphorous, zinc, and iron, which all make it much more nutritious than the denatured white rice you probably, like me, eat a lot of. It certainly tastes and smells richer. Some people say it smells like freshly baked bread. I get that. I’ve also heard sandalwood. That I don’t pick up.
Italian black rice is a hybrid of emperor’s rice, from China, also known as forbidden rice (meaning forbidden for anyone other than the emperor; seems he didn’t want his people to be healthy, and he also thought it an aphrodisiac that, if released to the public, could leave the masses out of control). The original Chinese version grows best in warmer climates. This variety was created to grow in cooler places such as Northern Italy.
For my recipe I pulled up some classic Marseille flavors, saffron, pastis, basil, and thyme. The dish itself is elaborate and feels very special-occasion to me. I found great-looking scallops at my farmers’ market, so I decided to make this for my husband’s birthday. He loved it. Seafood goes beautifully with this rice. You can use shrimp or calamari or clams instead of scallops. Or, if you prefer, you can leave out the seafood entirely and just serve the saffron pastis black riso alone, or as a side dish. The rice is so intrinsically flavorful, you might at times want to serve it very simply, maybe just tossed with soft herbs (basil, parsley, tarragon, chives, fennel), pine nuts, and good olive oil. It also makes a nice summer rice salad with seasonal vegetables such as zucchini with summer garlic and mint. And it looks beautiful on a picnic table.
I chose a riso nero from Pacifico Crespi, a producer in Piemonte. It’s imported by Gustiamo. You can also get a riso nero from a company called Marhaba at Kalustyan, and you can find several other producers on Amazon, but I like the Gustiamo one the best.
If you give this rice a try, let me know how it turns out.
Riso Nero Venere with Scallops, Saffron, Pastis, and Basil
12 or so large sea scallops, the side muscles removed (if your scallops are really large, like mine were, three per person should be plenty, but see what you come up with and judge for yourself if you think you’ll need more or you’re big eaters)
The grated zest from 1 lemon
½ teaspoon runny honey
Calabrian chili paste, just a touch for the scallops and another little touch for the tomatoes
Salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
1½ cups riso nero venere
1 large shallot, cut into small dice
A few large thyme sprigs, the leaves chopped
1½ pints sweet grape tomatoes
A big splash of dry vermouth
1 tablespoon white miso, plus a big pinch of dry ground saffron threads, both dissolved in ½ cup warm water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
A splash of pastis, such as Pernod
A handful of torn basil leaves
Put the scallops in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, the honey, a touch of Calabrian chili paste, a bit of salt, and a drizzle of olive oil. Toss it all around, and stick it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook the scallops (you can refrigerate them for a few hours, but for optimal freshness I wouldn’t leave them overnight).
Fill a medium saucepan about halfway with water. Add salt, and bring it to a boil. Add the rice, and give it a stir. Turn the heat down so it cooks at a low bubble, partially cover the pan, and cook until just tender. Because black rice still contains its bran, it takes longer than white rice, more like cooking brown rice, so figure about 30 minutes. I cook black rice more like pasta, in lots of water. When it’s al dente tender, drain it, and toss it with a drizzle of olive oil.
Set out a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add a big drizzle of olive oil. Add the shallot, the thyme, the tomatoes, and a little salt, and cook, shaking the pan around a few times, until the tomatoes start to burst and give off some juice, about 5 minutes or so. Add the vermouth, and let it bubble for a few seconds. Add the miso saffron water, stirring it in and letting it simmer for about a minute. Add a touch of the Calabrian chili paste.
Add the rice to the tomatoes, stirring everything well. Taste for seasoning. Keep it warm over a low flame.
In another large skillet, heat the butter and a drizzle of olive oil over high heat. When the pan is hot, add the scallops, spacing them out so they’re not crowded. Let them brown, without moving them around at all, for about 2 minutes. Give them a flip, and quickly brown their other side for about a minute or so longer. Add the pastis, and let it bubble away.
Add half the basil to the rice, and pour it onto a large serving platter. Arrange the scallops on top. Pour any pan sauces you might have over the top. Scatter on the remaining basil. Serve right away.
Erica De Mane 
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