Roman grain risotto "Donau-Ries" with emmer, beetroot and plums

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 200 g wheat (emmer), soaked in water overnight
• 1 clove(s) garlic, finely chopped
• ½ onion(s), diced
• 1 m.-large beetroot, diced
• red wine
• broth
• 6 plums, roughly chopped
• 100 g cheese, grated Emmental
• Butter in flakes, to taste
• salt and pepper
• Seasonal herbs, fresh, to taste

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 day 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 day 1 hour

This is a dish that you might have eaten 2,000 years ago in the historic granary of Donau-Ries at the northern end of the first real road over the Alps, the Via Claudia Augusta. Dice the garlic and onion and sweat them. Then add the diced beetroot and braise everything together. Then add the soaked emmer wheat and fry everything briefly. Finally, deglaze with red wine and stir continuously until the liquid has reduced. The more you stir, the better the risotto becomes. Then add a ladleful of stock and cook it down, stirring constantly, until the emmer has the consistency you like. A tip: Italian gourmets also eat risotto rice al dente, i.e. with something between their teeth. Now remove the grain risotto from the heat, stir in finely chopped plums, grated cheese, and butter flakes, season to taste, and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes. This will allow the grain risotto to become creamier. Finally, arrange the dish, garnish with fresh seasonal herbs to taste, and serve.