OK, well, it’s not going to call your mama names or give you grief or anything. It’s not that kind of mean.
Risotto is one of those staples that is on all the posh menus. The posher the menu the more it’s absolutely impossible to decipher what the hell went into it in the first place. Risotto is one of those meals that can be done brilliantly and it is a taste sensation, or the cheese to pasta ratio gets shagged and it’s thick enough to be used as wallpaper paste. It’s actually a good dish to have in your armory, though, as it’s not actually that fussy (even if it allegedly has the reputation for being so), people tend to be well impressed if you can make it (and making risotto is way up there in my list of “Things I Am Good At”, which includes hand jobs and Scrabble, although obviously the three activities are not mutually exclusive), and the really spectacular thing about risotto is you can put damn near anything in it.
Yes really.
There is only one trick to risotto: Once you put the grains in the pan, don’t stop stirring.
Beyond that, it’s a cakewalk.
I have been all over the web and many cookbooks over the years adding to my risotto repertoire, and I change the recipe every time I make it, but it more or less goes along the lines of whatever I have in the fridge and how much effort I feel like putting into it. I often serve it with mushrooms (chopped and thrown in at the last 5 minutes) and asparagus (poached and then added into the bowls, as opposed to with the risotto) and a handful of chopped coriander (cilantro). You can add a cup of mixed seafood. You can add chorizo and peppers. Roasted chicken and peas goes well in it. Whatever you fancy, it’s probably ok going into risotto (within reason. Keep your Twizzlers out of the pan, m’kay?)
The basic recipe is thus:
250g risotto rice (about 2 cups)
1 leek (a yellow onion will also work)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
some olive oil for frying
2 pints vegetable stock
1 tbsp margarine or butter
1 c white wine
1/2 c grated parmesan
salt
pepper
To start with, I usually get the kettle boiling and get your vegetable stock (or chicken/fish/meat stock) ready for use and grate the cheese.
Grate extra, because if you’re like me then of course you’ll have to do quality control on the dairy. If you’re like me (although there’s no reason why you would be) then you’ll want to add lots of cheese – don’t. You want the rice to fall off the wooden spoon when you turn it upside down. If it doesn’t then there’s too much cheese, it’s too stodgy, and it’s going to sit like a hard knot at the bottom of your stomach for about 18 hours.
Right, so the basic recipe is to pour a glug of olive oil in a pan and heat it up, then add a chopped leek and some crushed garlic.
Sweat the leek and onion – not aerobics or you standing over them shouting “You’re nothing! You’ll never be anything! You’re useless!”, just get them heated until they’re flimsy and have clearly worn down from the physical and emotional abuse you’ve put them through.
Once you have them limp and flailing, add the risotto rice and stir it around until the grains are just getting a bit transparent – it doesn’t take long, perhaps no more than 2-3 minutes (keep the grains, leek and garlic moving in the pan with your spoon so it doesn’t scorch).
I hear random stories about people having enough leftover wine to freeze, which makes me wonder who these people are as this is a mystifying event which does not occur in this house. If you are such a creature, throw a few of those bad boys in now. If you are not, add about a glassful of white wine (use the crappy stuff that you’d rather not drink). If you are anti-alcohol you can skip this step and just use extra stock, and if you’re nervous about serving something that has been cooked with alcohol, you don’t have to be – the alcohol will burn off, this is just for flavor.
Now you need to get the stock ready. This is the “don’t stop stirring” part, so get your elbow ready. If you have a poncy and pretentious little ladle like I do, then you can use that.
Add enough to cover the top of the rice in the pan. You’ll be doing this a lot as the pasta absorbs the liquid. If you stop stirring then brace yourself for the fact that risotto might have permanently joined your pan in an unholy union. If you’re ok with that, then grab another glass for the alcohol.
Keep stirring. Keep adding stock as the risotto rice absorbs it. Keep tasting it to see if it’s passed from crunch to edible. It will look done at about the time it looks like a questionable insect infestation.
Taste it and add salt/pepper to your taste. Jamie Oliver’s risotto recipes suggest adding some margarine or butter to the recipe, and I found that it really does add to the flavor. So take it off the heat and add a tablespoon of margarine.
Now add your cheese and whatever you have decided to chuck into the risotto. In our case we (Alastair, because my wrist is still dodgy) peeled and cubed a butternut squash (by peeled, we mean that he used a carrot peeler on the outside. I had no idea one could do that until he did. I am impressed.)
He then took some fresh sage
some olive oil
and we roasted it until soft.
I let it cool and then added the squash/sage mix into the risotto and served it.
It was delicious.
It’s a very easy recipe (don’t stop stirring!) that looks like you spent ages on it, when you haven’t.
-S.
I tried making risotto once and sucked big giant donkey balls. I think I will try your recipe very soon.
I too like to add excessive cheese. And I never thought risotto was that complex, other than you had to be fairly organized and get everything ready beforehand. Unfortunately, my husband doesn’t like risotto. :(
I love a mean risotto – but did you know you could use barley instead of the arborio rice (that is if you’ve run out!)
BNM
On today’s to do list: find good risotto recipes. When checking Google Reader, I encounter one on your blog. Thanks, this looks delicious!
I’ll be trying this one. I’ve always been afraid of risotto failure.
It looks excellent! The best risotto I ever had was in San Francisco. It had fresh asparagus, truffles, rare roast beef and the creamiest risotto ever. I can still conjure up the taste and that was about ten years ago.
Looks delish! Will have to try this week. Thanks!
I may gice this a go tonight. How much is a pint? Being Canadian I operate on metric or American.
And thus my Weekend Cooking Project has been decided. I will report back, either with gratuitous thanks or sobs of “why didn’t it work?”
Thank you for inspiring my dinner! Delish!
Had a vegan friend for dinner this weekend and made a vegan wild mushroom risotto for the first time. I was worried leaving the cheese out would make the dish less than fabulous, but I added a little white truffle oil and it was amazing! Give it a try if you like the flavor of truffle. Nice dish to have in the arsenal if you are hosting vegans.
See, I have to leave work and do this right now. There’s no other option. Thanks, lady, you just got me fired…
Looks marvelous! I will seriously be feeding this to my husband post haste.
And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is how you do proper risotto. (Except the margarine bit. Butter or nothing, SURELY). In fact, this recipe, or close variations thereof, is the only way at all I’ll actually enjoy eating squash. It’s THAT GOOD.
Ehh, this is well-timed. I have made 3 risottos lately, and John’s hated all of ‘em, even the ones I thought were ok-ish. I shall follow your instructions to the letter next time.
I’m allergic to the sap of butternut squash and found this out the hard way while trying desperately to peel one… with a carrot peeler. And boy, did I struggle; they are like bloody granite! Alistair must have wrists of iron! Now I just nuke the buggers for a bit just to soften them, before taking a long knife to it and keeping my fingers clear of the juice.
Yum! I’m going to try this. Thanks for the tutorial.
Brilliant! I’ve never had luck with risotto before (probably because I was paying more attention to the wine bottle than the stirring) but I’ll give this one a go. Glad you showed actual grated Parmesian, rather than the cheese-flavored shite in the green can (yes, there is a difference!). And yes, I’ll remember to stir.
Yum! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Looks good – I would throw anything in. I think anything rice and you have to get the timing right otherwise the rice goes to mush or is too hard. Give me boil in the boil in the bag and I reckon I could make this.
Yummy! Like the butternut squash and sage idea too. Risotto used to be one of my staples for the girls, but two of the three of them have irritatingly decided they don’t like it aaaaaargh!.
Anyway, really came over to say I enjoyed “seeing” you last night. Thought you all came across fantastically.
That looks AMAZING! I always order risotto because I thought it was impossible to make unless your fancy chef. But you broke it down in a manner in which I actually think I may be able to pull this off!
What? No pictorial how-to on the hand jobs?
In all seriousness, this looks fantastic. I think I’ll try to make this next weekend. At least now I know why my risotto always miserably fails (too much cheese!)
That’s it. I’m trying this tomorrow – it looks so gorgeous and tasty looking. I’ve only once made a risotto and it was disgusting (too much cheese. Way. Too. Much.) but lately my S.O. and I have been talking about trying it again.
Love the butternut squash, I’ve never bought that because I don’t really know what to do with it but I still love experimenting so this recipe looks perfect! Thanks! :)
Ooooh butternut squash risotto! That sounds fantastic. I’ve never actually made risotto (it sounds like work and I’m lazy) but I have made an orzo dish that is similar, but without all the stirring. However, your butternut squash risotto may have just convinced me I need to make the real thing.
THANK YOU!!!!! I have been scared to make risotto even though it is one of my favorite comfort foods- I am trying this tomorrow. And then posting pics on my facebook page, because I have a bizarre compulsion to share my dinner with my friends :)
YES, PLEASE!!
MMm. I love risotto. I like to use a bit of celery at the leak/onion stage, and sometimes use white vermouth instead of wine. I love Jamie Olivers risotto recipes.
I made this and it turned out well the fiance LOVED it.I made it with roasted red and yellow bell peppers and salmon. I had never made it before, as I never knew what it was. I used chicken broth as that’s what I had on hand and a cheap Sauvignon Blanc. I don’t know what it was, but all I could smell was the wine after I added it and I didn’t care for the wine taste. Next time I’ll try it with just broth. I think I’d like to try this in a restaurant too.
I made this and it turned out well the fiance LOVED it.I made it with roasted red and yellow bell peppers and salmon. I had never made it before, as I never knew what it was. I used chicken broth as that’s what I had on hand and a cheap Sauvignon Blanc. I don’t know what it was, but all I could smell was the wine after I added it and I didn’t care for the wine taste. Next time I’ll try it with just broth. I think I’d like to try this in a restaurant too.
I have those bowls! Well, I used to. Most of them have broken. I think we’re down to 2. But they are awesome for pasta and all kinds of goodies.
And also? Don’t tell anyone but I cheated once and made mushroom risotto in my pressure cooker. It was pretty darn good. Honest.