No Schweddy Balls: Rossetto Risotto Rocks

Lynn Rossetto Kasper's radio show, "The Splendid Table," may be most famous for a parody of it courtesy Saturday Night Live and Alec Baldwin.

You most likely remember a fake NPR show called "The Delicious Dish," starring Margaret Jo McCullen and Teri Rialto, played by Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon. Their guest, Pete Schweddy (Baldwin), presented his special Schweddy Balls during a holiday segment.

The whole thing was an eighth-grade hoot full of penis and testicle jokes, but it remains one of the funniest skits ever on SNL.

That aside, if you haven't ever listened to Kasper's show (2 p.m. on Sundays in Northern Colorado on KUNC, 91.5), you're missing out on some fun stuff. She trots out a host of regular guests, most notably the Sterns, Jane and Michael, authors of something called "Road Food," for which they also have a Web site.

Jane and Michael sound like a parody of Darien, Connecticut, snobs who traipse around the country (the South, it seems, almost too often) and give us rousing report of these things called "Biscuits and Gravy," and "Fried Chicken."

Jane: Oh, my goodness, Lynn. You wouldn't believe these wonderfully flaky, perfectly round little morsels they're serving up at this roadside place. They called them "biscuits," and they pair it with a piece of salty meat, called "Ham." It's to die for, really.

Lynn: Ooh, how quaint.

Michael: Then they serve it with the most wonderful tea, complete with a cup of sugar. It's called "Sweet Tea." Can you believe it? Heaven.

Also, it seems Lynn stalls her callers sometimes while one of her aides is busy Googling a particular culinary conundrum, but her advice usually rings true.

The show aside (and it's always good for a tip and a laugh), Lynn also offers an e-mail service from her site in which she offers up reasonably simple to prepare, but complex-tasting mid-week meals. I take her advice at least once a month it seems, and she's rarely made a bad suggestion.

Today's suggestion: "Farmwoman's Risotto" or Risotto alla Contadina.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Like any risotto recipe, you need to prepare all the ingredients ahead of time so you're precisely timing their addition to the pot. And you need to stir constantly, never leaving the stove. But it pays off in incredible flavor.

Also, I left some of the herbs in the pot (instead of adding sprigs only and removing them before serving), I substituted speck (smoked prosciutto) for the pancetta, and I used a good Pecorino Romano sheep's cheese instead of the cow's cheeses she suggested.

The result is a chunky veggie-laden (hence, "Farmwoman's" Risotto) risotto that went perfectly with a little leftover emu meatloaf covered in tomato sauce, arugula/blue cheese salad sprinkled with balsamic-honey-mustard vinaigrette, and a couple of glasses of Three-Buck-Chuck Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc dregs left over from last week.

Thanks, Holly.

Buen Provecho.