AKA would you like some rice with your parmesan cheese?
My girls love love love this risotto with a passion and it is wonderfully simple and a great springboard for any number of variations. It can work as a main or a side dish. They love it simply as is, or with pieces of bacon or chorizo or mushroom mixed through and especially when I can be bothered to take small spoonfuls and cover in egg and breadcrumbs and fry it into delicious arancini (rice balls). Warning, I am making this up as I go and I’m pretty sure it’s not going to read like a professional recipe or anything, ok? LOL
Get your favourite big cooking pot, a good heavy based one that browns well is always nice. Give it a good splash of olive oil (don’t skimp here or use a spray, live a little) and throw in some finely diced onion (you could substitute spring onions or shallots or even leeks, whatever takes your fancy) and minced garlic to taste (you know how garlicky you want it). Brown them a little, then add 400 grams of uncooked Arborio rice and push it around for a couple of minutes so you slightly toast it.
I’m pretty sure that the original, very worthy recipe on which this is based called for warmed stock, but that has long fallen by the wayside in this kitchen without terrible consequences – can you be bothered? Anyway, I just add 1.25 litres of room temperature :P chicken stock (hey if you want to be Martha, you can make your own or just buy a carton or two and pour it in like I do), about 150 ml at a time, stirring regularly (but not constantly if you’re me and easily distracted/listening to an 8yo read her home reader/chatting on the phone etc). Then as each lot of stock is absorbed, add some more and stir etc etc ad nauseum or til your arm falls off. I love watching it transform from individual pearly beads to a full, heavy, fragrant mass. Oh, nearly forgot, I wildly shake pepper and Italian herbs (not from a home-grown herb garden unfortunately, just a jar from the supermarket) over the top of it at some point during the process. Don’t usually salt it because of the parmesan added at the end, but if you’re a salt lover, go for it…
Towards the end, it really is a taste and see process for me, if it’s not done, I just add a little more stock. Once it feels al dente (yes, I know that’s pasta, but you know what I mean), turn off the heat and add a couple of tablespoons of butter and stir it in. Then, you need between 75 grams (if you want a subtle parmesan flavour) and 150 grams (if you’re serious about your spew cheese) of grated real parmesan. Do yourself a favour and go and buy a wedge of the real stuff and grate it fresh yourself, none of the plastic crap – it really will make a difference. Pour it in, work it through and inhale and sigh happily. Ignore children round your ankles demanding a taste LOL
As I’m a multi-tasker extraordinaire, I often do two pots of this simultaneously – if I’m going to stand at the stove for 20-30 minutes stirring, may as well do a big pile of it and freeze for a future manic week. Or I put it on the back burner and do pancakes on the front (another stand-in-front-of-the-stove dish) – and yes, I mean the shaker pancake mix ;) – and flip and stir, flip and stir.
So thought I’d take a pic of the latest batch, but it’s so sad – it looks so awful, hardly likely to inspire anyone, is it?! It looks like a highly unappetizing blob of oatmeal or something – what a pity you can’t scratch and sniff the screen because it smells heavenly… ;) Going to have to start sending my meals cross-country to Carrie to photograph for me and get those glorious salivatingly saturated colours she does so well LOL So you’ll just have to take my word for it, sigh, at least the bowl looks pretty LOL
My girls love love love this risotto with a passion and it is wonderfully simple and a great springboard for any number of variations. It can work as a main or a side dish. They love it simply as is, or with pieces of bacon or chorizo or mushroom mixed through and especially when I can be bothered to take small spoonfuls and cover in egg and breadcrumbs and fry it into delicious arancini (rice balls). Warning, I am making this up as I go and I’m pretty sure it’s not going to read like a professional recipe or anything, ok? LOL
Get your favourite big cooking pot, a good heavy based one that browns well is always nice. Give it a good splash of olive oil (don’t skimp here or use a spray, live a little) and throw in some finely diced onion (you could substitute spring onions or shallots or even leeks, whatever takes your fancy) and minced garlic to taste (you know how garlicky you want it). Brown them a little, then add 400 grams of uncooked Arborio rice and push it around for a couple of minutes so you slightly toast it.
I’m pretty sure that the original, very worthy recipe on which this is based called for warmed stock, but that has long fallen by the wayside in this kitchen without terrible consequences – can you be bothered? Anyway, I just add 1.25 litres of room temperature :P chicken stock (hey if you want to be Martha, you can make your own or just buy a carton or two and pour it in like I do), about 150 ml at a time, stirring regularly (but not constantly if you’re me and easily distracted/listening to an 8yo read her home reader/chatting on the phone etc). Then as each lot of stock is absorbed, add some more and stir etc etc ad nauseum or til your arm falls off. I love watching it transform from individual pearly beads to a full, heavy, fragrant mass. Oh, nearly forgot, I wildly shake pepper and Italian herbs (not from a home-grown herb garden unfortunately, just a jar from the supermarket) over the top of it at some point during the process. Don’t usually salt it because of the parmesan added at the end, but if you’re a salt lover, go for it…
Towards the end, it really is a taste and see process for me, if it’s not done, I just add a little more stock. Once it feels al dente (yes, I know that’s pasta, but you know what I mean), turn off the heat and add a couple of tablespoons of butter and stir it in. Then, you need between 75 grams (if you want a subtle parmesan flavour) and 150 grams (if you’re serious about your spew cheese) of grated real parmesan. Do yourself a favour and go and buy a wedge of the real stuff and grate it fresh yourself, none of the plastic crap – it really will make a difference. Pour it in, work it through and inhale and sigh happily. Ignore children round your ankles demanding a taste LOL
As I’m a multi-tasker extraordinaire, I often do two pots of this simultaneously – if I’m going to stand at the stove for 20-30 minutes stirring, may as well do a big pile of it and freeze for a future manic week. Or I put it on the back burner and do pancakes on the front (another stand-in-front-of-the-stove dish) – and yes, I mean the shaker pancake mix ;) – and flip and stir, flip and stir.
So thought I’d take a pic of the latest batch, but it’s so sad – it looks so awful, hardly likely to inspire anyone, is it?! It looks like a highly unappetizing blob of oatmeal or something – what a pity you can’t scratch and sniff the screen because it smells heavenly… ;) Going to have to start sending my meals cross-country to Carrie to photograph for me and get those glorious salivatingly saturated colours she does so well LOL So you’ll just have to take my word for it, sigh, at least the bowl looks pretty LOL
1 comment:
You crack me up Sue as the first thing I noticed was that pretty bowl..but Im a sucker for florals.Think I will have to try this recipe out
Luv
Kaz
xoxo
Post a Comment