How to cook risotto
Classical comforting and warming rice dish, originates from Northern Italy. It has already conquered the world long ago. Almost everybody knows that rice should be al dente ", that for cooking You have to use stock instead of water and that in the end grated cheese is often added. But not everyone knows how to make it creamy, how to chop the onions for the dish and how to add the other ingredients.
In general, risotto is served as a first course, with the exception of risotto alla milanese (risotto with saffron), which is served along with meat dish osso buco alla milanese. Risotto can be very simple and also extremely complicated. Depends on your preference and what You want to cook.
Preparation of a good risotto requires attention and knowing of certain techniques of cooking, but the effort is worth it. When you know the basic cooking techniques, then You can try cooking millet, bulgur or barley the same way. These cereals have enough starch to provide creamy texture.
So:
1) Rice: Risotto is cooked with short grain rice, which is rich in starch, that helps to achieve the desired creamy consistency. The best types of rice for this purpose are: Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone Nano. I do not advise to buy rice with simple inscription "risotto rice", in such packages rice grains are often not of the same size and that will not allow to cook all the rice evenly.
Do not wash the rice before cooking risotto! You will wash out the precious starch!
2) Stock: The taste of the stock influences the taste of risotto greatly. The best to use is chicken or veal stock. Their taste is the most neutral. For seafood risotto, you can use fish stock
Stock should be always hot before adding to risotto. Bring it to a boil and keep on low heat or just in a warm place.
Hot liquid helps to extract the starch from a grain of rice. A cold liquid is shocking the heated rice and the starch coagulates, which doesn’t allow the proper creamy consistency to form.
3) Frying: Onion is a part of almost every risotto. It must be cut very finely, it should be the size of a rice grain. Sometimes garlic is also added.
4) Ingredients: Meat, fish and seafood, mushrooms mainly added at the first stage of cooking risotto. We need to take into account that additional product should have a relatively short cooking time to be done along with rice. The dish is cooked approximately for 20-25 minutes. Delicate ingredients such as small shrimps, green peas, asparagus tops should be added when the rice is half done.
5) Cheese: in Italy, traditionally Grana Padano cheese is added in the process and grated Parmesan cheese is served at the table for sprinkling.
For the simplest classic risotto:
Serves 2:
200 grams of rice
1 l. stock
1 small onion
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
100 ml dry white wine
For mantecatura:
40 grams cold butter diced
50 grams grated cheese (Grana Padano or Parmesan)
Stages of cooking risotto:
1) Soffrito: Sweat chopped onions with olive oil or butter or the mixture of two, over low heat. Add and garlic, if you want to. Onions must be soft and translucent. At this stage, add some extra ingredients according to the recipe: pieces of meat, mushrooms, some vegetables or seafood.
2) Tostatura: this stage increase the heat to medium, add rice and stir intensively. Each rice grain should be heated through and wrapped up with oil film. This stage fills the rice with onion and additions’ flavor, warms the grain up and helps to keep the shape of rice throughout the cooking. Finish the stage with adding wine. Acidic wine balances the taste of starchy dishes. Keep stirring until complete evaporation of the wine.
3) Stage of actual cooking: When the wine has evaporated, add a ladle of the hot stock. Stir. You have to stir, if not all the time, then at least frequently. Stirring helps the starch to come out, allows even cooking and liquid absorption. At this stage rice should reach the stage of al dente (slightly crunchy inside). Rice should be still crunchy inside and of fairly thick consistency, but not too much. Remove rice from heat, set aside for 1-2 minutes.
4) Mantecatura: it's almost the most important stage of a good risotto. Add cold diced butter to the "rested" rice and stir, shaking pan. There must be a characteristic sound "slopping”. Now add the grated cheese and mix well.
Serve immediately!!
Remember, the Italians say: "Man is waiting for risotto, and not risotto for a man"
P.S. Do not be afraid to experiment. Try to make a risotto with blue cheese or mozzarella.
