Basic Risotto Recipe

August 23, 2014
|In Recipes
|By The Farmers

From Megan’s kitchen, inspired by Risotto, 30 Simply Delicious Vegetarian Recipes from an Italian Kitchen

 

Whipping up a risotto from scratch is really so much easier than you might think.The only challenge is the need to stand at the stove for 20 minutes stirring in the liquid — so make it with a friend or better yet employ your children! Once you get the basic recipe down you can mix in ANY vegetable we send your way… and what a satisfying way! For heartier veggies, add them with the rice, for really tender ones add them in the middle and for fresh herbs, add them at the end with the cheese. EXPERIMENT! Really you can’t mess up because grated cheese masks all cooking sins. Enjoy.

 

  • 4 C Vegetable or homemade chicken stock
  • 1/4 C Unsalted butter
  • 1 T Olive oil
  • 8 Shallots or 1 bu fresh onions, finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 C Risotto rice, such as vialone nono, canaroli or aborio
  • 1/3 C White wine
  • 1 1/2 C Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Put the stock in a saucepan. Heat until almost boiling, then reduce the heat until barely simmering to keep it hot. I prefer to use homemade vegetable stock or chicken stock when I can, but canned will also work quite nicely.

Heat the butter and oil in a deep skillet or heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. Add the shallots or onions and cook for 1-2 minutes, until softened but not browned.

Add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon until the grains are well coated and glistening, about 1 minute. Pour in the wine and stir until it has been completely absorbed

Add 1 ladle of hot stock and simmer, stirring until it has been absorbed. Repeat. Add any hearty vegetables at this time. Continue to add the stock at intervals and cook as before. Add more tender vegetables about half way through. In total cook for about 10 minutes, until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender but still firm at its core (al dente).

Add the remaining stock, Parmesan, any fresh herbs, salt and pepper and mix well. Remove from heat, cover and let rest for 2 minutes.

Spoon into warm bowls and top w/ mint and freshly grated Parmesan and serve immediately.

Serves 4