When you master dish like risotto, you can turn a few ingredients that you have on hand into a restaurant-worthy meal in minutes.
Purists will always abide by the rules to making an authentic Italian risotto, and although I’m usually in the ‘learn the rules, so you can break ’em’ camp, here are some tips that I find useful to raise your risotto game!
- The right rice – the rice you use will affect the texture of the risotto, and so, always choose a risotto-style rice like Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone Nano – which is a great choice for par-cooking the rice and finishing off later. If you can’t find this rice then a medium grain rice. like Calrose, is the next best option.
- Toast it – the first step to risotto making is to toast the rice until it is opaque. This can happen after you sauté aromatics, like onion, garlic or leek. I always use butter to give the best flavour and stir over high heat until the rice feels like hot sand to the touch.
- The liquid – a home made stock is always best flavour-wise, but storebought liquid stock will also do the trick. You can even use salted boiling water to allow the flavour of the other ingredients to shine through and a cup of wine added first will impart another level of flavour too . The reason to always add simmering stock/liquid – gradually so you can monitor the texture of the risotto as you go – is so that you don’t cool down the rice while it cooks, therefore lengthening the cooking time. I have been known to use boiling water from the kettle as a cheat for an easy risotto!
- To stir or not to stir – stirring is an important part of the process to release the starch from the rice which gives the risotto a creamy texture, but vigorous over-stirring can break up the grains so the risotto becomes mushy. I suggest ‘lazy stirring’ rather than a constant action, so that you don’t introduce too much air either, which will cool it and again, extend the cooking time.
- Give it a Rest – once the rice is cooked to the ‘al dente’ stage, I always turn off the heat and let it sit covered for 5 minutes. It usually sets a bit more and I then adjust it to a porridge-like consistency with a little boiling water from the aforementioned kettle!
- Finishing – finish the risotto with a knob of butter and handful of grated parmesan to give shine, body and flavour to the final dish. A sprinkling of pepper, herbs or other sprinkles that suit the flavour combination of your risotto, like toasted nuts or grated lemon rind, and a drizzling of extra virgin olive oil or even balsamic glaze, will heighten the aroma and texture.
Here is a collection of some of my favourite risotto recipes, from the heady flavour of porcini mushroom with hazelnuts or the luxury of truffle with scallops; to interesting combinations of salami and sage, or chicken, chorizo and sun-dried tomato. I also have included a microwave risotto which works really well if you can’t be bothered with the stirring required!
So let’s raise a glass to raising the risotto stakes!
