Demystifying Risotto

Risotto — a naturally gluten-free, creamy rice dish that compliments many main courses wonderfully and yet, so rich and flavorful that it can stand quite comfortably alone. There is wide-spread belief that risotto is a complex dish that takes a great deal of time to make. This is truly just a myth. Risotto is actually quite simple to make, very versatile and really only takes about 30-40 minutes to prepare! Join us this month as we explore the versatility of risotto and discover how uncomplicated it really is!

Choosing the Right Rice:

Choosing the right rice for risotto is critical to the success of this wonderful dish. Traditionally, Arborio rice is used to create the creamy desired result. Arborio rice is a short-grain rice that cooks to the ideal "creamy" consistency. The reason this rice works so well is that the starch is released more readily during the cooking process. Other grains may be prepared in the same manner but the end result will not be exactly the same.

5 Basic Steps to Perfect Risotto:

Risotto can really be broken down into 5 steps. To help us understand the basics, we’ll begin by preparing a basic risotto. Once you master a basic risotto, you will begin to see how easy it is to modify this basic recipe and create an endless number of delicious risotto variations.

Before we begin, make sure that you have all the ingredients prepped, measured out and ready to use. This will dramatically speed up the process and ensure that your risotto will be completed within 30-40 minutes.

Basic Risotto: (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups gf chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Step 1: Preparing the Stock

The rich, creamy texture of risotto is created by the multiple additions of a gf stock. Keep in mind that you can use vegetable, fish or chicken stock, whichever you prefer. The stock needs to be hot when we add it to the risotto. This will help the risotto cook faster and evenly.

So, to begin, place the stock in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low to keep warm.

Step 2: Sautéing the Vegetables and Rice

Aromatic vegetables like onions, garlic and/or shallots and the rice are given a preliminary sauté to add a wonderful flavor to the risotto.

In a separate medium, shallow saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and sauté until tender. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the rice. Sauté for about a minute or until the rice looks slightly translucent.

Step 3: Adding the Wine

If you prefer you can omit this step, but it does add another depth of flavor to the risotto and indeed enhances the final outcome of the dish. If you prefer to omit the wine, proceed to step 4.

Add the wine to the rice and cook, stirring constantly, until the wine almost completely cooks off. The alcohol will evaporate and leave the rice with a wonderful essence.

Step 4: Adding the Stock

Once the wine has cooked off, add about half a cup of gf stock to the rice. Turn the heat down to medium. At this point the heat should be such that the rice mixture is at a fairly high simmer. If the heat is too high, it will cook the rice too quickly on the outside. Cook, stirring constantly, until the stock is almost completely absorbed into the rice. Repeat this process, adding the stock and stirring until absorbed into the rice, until, when tasted, the rice is "al dente" — it should be soft but still have a slight bite to it. This process should only take about 15-20 minutes. Adjust your seasonings to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Step 5: Don’t Forget This Final Step!

Once the rice reaches the right consistency, we want to finish it off by adding our butter and Parmigiano-Regianno cheese. This will give it that added creaminess that we are trying to achieve.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and cheese. Place a lid on the pan and let it sit for 2-3 minutes. This is the most important part of making the risotto. This is when it becomes deliciously creamy - as it should be. Serve and enjoy!

Risotto Variations

Now that you have mastered the basics of risotto, you can have a little fun with it and add some wonderful ingredients to create wildly different dishes. There are several areas that you can make your modifications, but keep in mind that the basic steps still apply.

Choice of Stock — As stated before, you can choose chicken, vegetable or fish stock for the base of your risotto. Each one will impart a different flavor — so consider the other ingredients you will be adding. The other thing you can do (which we did in our recipe for Southwestern Risotto) is add things like a chipotle pepper and garlic clove to the stock as you are heating it. This will add another depth altogether to the flavor of your risotto. You can also add herbs or spices at this stage for unique flavor.

Aromatic Vegetables & Other Flavorful Additions— Experiment with different aromatics or different combinations. You may find that you prefer using only onions or onions and garlic, versus the shallot and garlic combination used above. This is also a great place to add things like prosciutto — it will crisp up and add a wonderful saltiness to the risotto. Try our Risotto with Tomatoes & Herbs for a great example of the use of prosciutto in a risotto.

Stage 4 — Usually at the end of step 4 is when you will add any vegetables or fish. For example, if you are going to be adding shrimp, as in the Crab & Shrimp Risotto, you will want to add them towards the end of Stage 4 to prevent them from becoming over-done. The exception to this is if you want to really want the rice to "absorb" the flavor of your addition. For example, in the Roasted Garlic Risotto with Mascarpone cheese, we add the roasted garlic at the beginning of step 4. This will allow the roasted garlic to permeate throughout the rice.

Cheese — You don’t always have to use Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. You can vary it with other cheeses as in the Caribbean Risotto or if you choose you can also omit it altogether.

So as you can see risotto is actually quite simple to make and quite simple to modify. Once you make risotto a few times, you will discover that it is not as intimidating as it first may seem and it very well may become one of your favorite side dishes or main courses!!

We hope you enjoy!

- Glutenfreeda