One of my cooking goals this month is to make “real” risotto. Share with me your favorite recipes, tips, and tricks!
One specific thing I’m wondering is if risotto reheats well or if I should try to finish what I make in one sitting?
The risotto that The Superhero makes tastes very good when reheated. He uses arborio rice. That’s about all I know, maybe he’ll come in with his secret method.
Mine is different when it’s reheated; tastes OK, but it’s really best fresh.
Use only short-grain rice, such as Arborio. Heat a bit of olive oil in a heavy saute pan. Saute the rice for a few minutes, add some thinly sliced shallots to briefly saute, then add about a half cup of white wine and let it be absorbed to some extent. Start adding the stock of your choice a couple of cups at a time and cook at a high simmer (there should be a “lace” of bubbles at all times), stirring occasionally. After about twenty minutes, you should be at around the right consistency, where there is a creamy consistency, but the kernel of the rice is firm and nutty. Add Parmesan cheese, scallops or other ingredients at this point.
Next day, make risotto cakes by adding Panko crumbs, egg, roasted red pepper and Parmesan. Fry up in a bit of butter. Nom-nom.
I do this the other way around: shallots first, then rice. Works fine either way, as long as (a) the shallots are softened and translucent, and (b) the rice grains have absorbed the oil until they’re transparent with the small white core inside.
One important tip: Don’t brown the shallots. Cook them on medium-low until they’re soft and give off a slightly sweet aroma. They shouldn’t sizzle and pop; a soft, gentle hiss is what you’re after. If they get browned, they will change the flavor away from what risotto should be. If they sizzle and start to darken, remove from heat until they stop, lower the heat, and try again.
Also, after you have the basics down, here’s an advanced tip: for the stock, make your own from scratch using veal bones. You wouldn’t think it’d make that much of a difference, but believe me, risotto made with scratch veal stock is an order of magnitude better than with chicken stock, even homemade, and don’t even talk to me about the stuff in the can.
Use good quality cheese, I use Parmagiana-Reggiano.
Make your broth and keep it hot the whole time. Not boiling, but very near simmering. Hey! Where are going??? You come back here! You aren’t going anywhere for 20 minutes. Period. Stir, stir, stir. That’s what you’re doing for the next 20 minutes. Don’t think you can go run & check the message boards. You can’t. Not with risotto.
Otherwise, you end up with paella. Only not really.
This is why I do it the other way 'round. Otherwise, you have to remove the shallots from the pan and re-insert them later. Not a big deal, just adds a step.
In addition to arborio, carnaroli is wonderful if you can find it, as is vialone nano. Here’s a list of risotto rices you can use. At the very least, use arborio, as you can find it relatively easily these days (at least around here it’s not hard to find.)
Also, I would say a homemade broth is extremely important. Commercial broths tend to be way too “sharp,” for lack of better word, and a bit high on the sodium. At the very least, if you must use commercial broth, find a low sodium one. I would generally shy away from making risotto if I don’t have some homemade broth to go with it.
If you have some time on your hands, nothing beats ossobuco (braised veal shanks) with risotto alla milanese (a simple risotto with saffron.)
Excellent, an excuse to post the greatest thing I’ve ever read on the internet:
Absolute Best Risotto You Will EVER Eat
(the comments alternate between hilarious and amazing)
I made risotto for the first time recently because of Hell’s Kitchen, and yes, the stir, stir, stir is the biggest part of it. I’m interested on how anyone reheats it though, my leftovers were so thick with starch I threw it all away. Boy was it tasty the first time, though. I made a basic one with a chicken broth mixture and real parmesan. Sadly, that was dinner, because how on earth was I supposed to make anything else with all that active stirring?
mariposa, I sear a chicken breast or pork chop on both sides in an ovenproof skillet and toss it in the oven to finish. Then I do the risotto on the stovetop and they’re both done at the same time.
I received some good tips on that very topic in this thread, even a movie recommendation (still haven’t found Big Night at any of the local video stores 
)
God, that’s funny.
If someone told me I had to use broth that was at minimum, $3.99 per 8 ounces, I’d forgo cooking and spend the evening smacking 'em around the yard. Now THAT’S an edifying evening.
Risotto is one of my personal specialties. The main ingredients are rice, stock, some kind of onion, some kind of cheese, wine. The basic proportions are roughly the same for just about any recipe. You can be a nazi about the ingredients (like the guy in that link) but just paying attention to the process will get good results. I’ve gotten compliments and requests for seconds every single time I’ve made risotto.
I don’t have access to “real” ingredients most of the time, particularly Italian rice. I’m sure it would probably come out better if I did, but I use what I’ve got. Even light beef stock works, though chicken is more suited to the taste.
I start with some basic recipes and make tweaks depending on mood or the ingredients I have on hand. If I can’t get gorgonzola, I make a parmesan-based risotto. If I want some extra flavor or texture, I’ll use mushrooms. If I want to serve red wine, I’ll use a Barolo or similar wine instead of white. The most important things are to be patient, keep stirring, add another shallow ladle of stock as the liquid gets absorbed, never let it go unattended for more than a few seconds. Stir. Did I mention to stir?
Tips: use a large wide pot, or a wide rounded pan with high sides like a wok. Regular frying pans are too shallow, and many pots are too tall and narrow, which makes stirring much harder. I like a wok-style pan best because it’s got a rounded bottom, so you don’t have to scrape the corners to prevent the stuff from clumping or burning. Do your preparation ahead of time. Dice your onions, measure your butter, etc. and set everything out where it is easily accessible before starting anything. If you want other things with dinner, do that prep first too; you won’t have more than a few seconds stolen from stirring once you start the risotto.
Baked foods work well because all you usually have to do is throw them in and let them bake. As long as you prepared the trimmings first, you can preheat your oven and put your dish in at an appropriate time to coincide with the risotto. Salads can be made well ahead of time as long as you wait until serving to put the dressing on. Since you’re going to be using wine for the risotto, might as well choose foods that go with that wine. I typically do baked chicken, salad, and the risotto. I don’t usually attempt to cook anything else on the stove except an occasional soup, which usually needs very minimal attention.
Easy recipes that work well:
Gorgonzola Risotto
Risotto al Barolo
Mushroom Risotto
If you can time things right, you can get away with putting in the onions first, and then adding the rice. If you’re not confident about getting them cooked properly, do them first and remove with a slotted spoon to keep the oil or butter you used for sautéing them in the pan.
Risotto is fine cold the next day and reheats tolerably well in a microwave. The texture is a bit different, obviously, but the taste is fine. Pan reheating would not work well; you’d burn it or overcook the rice and turn the whole thing into cheese-rice pudding.
I use a nice vermouth rather than a white wine for that first liquid. Otherwise, pretty much what others have said. I’m an onions-firster, myself, and I’ve not had a problem with leaving them in when I add the rice, although I might add a glug of extra oil at that point.
Mostly I make mushroom risotto, where the 'shrooms have been fried in butter beforehand and are added after the first cup or so of stock. I generally follow the method in Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef.
My risotto has improved a lot since I started following the rules as set out by Giorgio Locatelli. He bangs on about them so much in his cookbook I thought I’d give them a go. Shorn of Italian terms -
- Butter, not olive oil. In a heavy pan, gently cook onion for five minutes.
- Toast the rice, add wine and cook until it disappears.
- Hot stock, stir.
- Rest off the heat for a minute.
- Vigorously beat in butter (and cheese if not a seafood risotto).
I have cooked Asian versions a few times since I first “invented” it by necessity - I was intent on cooking one for guests and had none of the usual stuff on hand.
So I made it with chicken curry paste, chicken stock and coconut milk.
Start like normal with chopped onion or leek of some description and then brown the chicken chunks in the curry paste.
Take out the part cooked chicken (it will dry out in the length of time a risotto takes) and proceed as normal alternating stock and coconut milk as you cook it. Add more curry paste if desired.
About 5 minutes before it will be finished add the chicken back and a little of some vegetables (sliced snow peas, plain peas, beans, peppers…hell whatever you like).
Having seen criminey.jicket’s post I may try doing the meat separately whole in the curry and then slice it up to add.