Wednesday, 12 April 2017

Risotto - a smile in a dish

SageThis is a return to one of my favourite foods of all time. Risotto is one of those cooking experiences which just makes me beam from ear to ear.

My friend Anna insists that Risotto is a dish of patience.

However, I would disagree, it is more a recipe of contemplation, or if you are me, it's all about having a Zen moment. You have all the ingredients to hand before you start so that you don't have to leave the hob for the 30 minutes or so it takes to make.

Your world is your deep sauté pan (ideally with a lid) and your ingredients.  Along with your favourite sauté spoon you will also need a teaspoon for "testing" purposes.
  • 25 grams of salted butter
  • 10 mls of good olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of elephant garlic, chopped
  • 250 grams of arborio rice
  • approximately 1 litre of liquid (normally in the form of a good vegetable, chicken or fish stock and perhaps a glass of good white wine or, if you feel inclined, a small glass of vermouth)
  • 15 grams of marjoram (or oregano, parsley or thyme), chopped
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • some of your favourite hard cheese for grating at the end
A small note before we begin, I've not included salt in the above list as a separate item.  There is salt in the butter and I've assumed some in your stock and of course you'll be using some cheese at the very end. 

So let's begin.

With your own personal glass of wine on the side for refreshment, place your deep pan on a medium heat and melt the butter along with the olive oil. Add the onions and garlic until the mixture starts to turn translucent. If they begin to catch, add a few dessert spoons of your stock and turn your heat down a little. Stir the contents so that any caught bits are now moving freely in the pan. Once the excess liquid is almost gone, add the rice and stir gently so that mixture coats the grains thoroughly.

This is where you get to your Zen contemplative mode, as the liquid is absorbed into the rice, you start to automatically top up the liquid. If you aren't careful, you will have cooked your rice without realising the time has passed. So be quite measured with this part of the process and don't get tempted to add the remaining liquid all at once. By the time you have used about two thirds of your liquid, start taking small samples with a teaspoon to test how much more cooking the rice actually needs.

It's also at this point that I normally put about half of the chopped herbs into the pan. Doing this in two parts gives a good depth of flavour. At this point I would also add a little ground black pepper.

As the rice gets to the point you think it is almost ready, add the remaining herbs. These will need two to five minutes in the pan to sweat off just right (depending of course how finely you have chopped them). If you are using dried herbs, be aware you will only need two or three teaspoons. In this case, put the dried herbs all in at the first stage as they will need time to absorb more moisture.

If you are adding vegetables (for an asparagus risotto, for example) I've recently adopted the habit of steaming these separately until al dente and then adding these almost at the end just to heat through. 

If it is a mushroom or meat based risotto, these ingredients are cooked with the onions and garlic at the beginning but if you prefer, you could also cook these separately and again, add them at the end.

At the end of your cooking moment, test your rice one final time.  The rice should have just a little "bite" remaining.

Just before serving, add your grated hard cheese of choice.

If you aren't serving immediately, simply place your lid snuggly to your pan before you add your cheese and take off the heat.  Once you are ready to serve (hopefully not more than 20 to 30 minutes), simply add your cheese then and stir in.


This should feed four people well alongside with a crunchy fresh green salad.

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