Blueberry Risotto Fritters with Blueberry-Ginger Sauce

From: Pastry Chef Rebecca Masson, The Red Cat, New York City. Yield: 6 servings.

¼ cup arborio rice
As needed, salt
1 cup milk
1 envelope yeast, dry (¼ oz.)
1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
As needed, sugar
½ cup blueberries
¼ tsp. cinnamon, ground
1/16 teaspoon cardamom, ground
As needed, vegetable oil

Blueberry Ginger Sauce:
½ cup sugar
1 ½ tbs. fresh ginger, peeled and grated
4 cups, blueberries
Vanilla ice cream or gelato as needed

For blueberry risotto fritters: In a small pan over high heat, bring 1 cup water to a boil. Stir in rice and ⅛ tsp. salt. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook until rice is tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Drain rice and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a small pan over low heat, heat the milk until bubbles form at the edge. Set aside to cool to 100º-110º F. When cooled, sprinkle yeast over milk and allow to soften for 5 minutes, then whisk until combined.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, 1 tbs. sugar and ½ tsp. salt; add yeast mixture and stir until smooth. Fold in rice and blueberries, cover, and set aside in a warm place until mixture doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Combine ½ cup sugar with the cinnamon, cardamom, and 1/16 tsp. salt; set aside.

Just before serving, in a medium pan, over medium-high heat, bring 3 inches vegetable oil to 375º F. Make fritters by dropping 3 to 5 heaping tablespoons of the dough at a time into the hot oil and fry until golden on one side. Turn fritters and fry until golden on the other side, about 5 minutes in all. Remove fritters to paper towels with a slotted spoon to drain. Repeat with remaining dough to make about 30 fritters.

To serve, toss warm fritters in the sugar and spice mixture. Arrange 4 fritters on a dessert plate. Place another fritter on top of them. Add a scoop of ice cream and top with blueberry-ginger sauce.

For blueberry-ginger sauce: In a small pan over high heat, stir ⅔ cup water, ½ cup sugar and fresh ginger; bring to a boil and cook 1 minute. In a large bowl, place 4 cups fresh blueberries and pour the hot ginger syrup over and stir to combine; set aside.