Saturday, March 6, 2010

Rosotto Several Ways

Risotto is so tasty and very elegant for serving at dinner parties. It is easy to prepare but takes time in the kitchen – not long, but you can’t walk away from it and you need to serve it immediately. The basic recipe can be augmented in any number of ways with whatever seasonal and fresh ingredients are available. There is no protein in this dish, but we don’t have to have proteins at every meal!

1 small onion
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 cup Arborio rice
1 cup white wine
6-8 cups vegetable stock (might be more like 4-6 cups, but better to have more on hand than not enough)
2 tablespoons butter or vegan substitute (my favorite – and so buttery – is Earth Balance in the green tub available at Whole Foods)
½ cup parmesan

1. In a sauce pan, heat the vegetable stock to warm to low simmer. It does not need to be boiling, just hot.
2. In a wide, large bottom skillet with deep sides (a paella pan works well too) start by sautéing ½ cup finely chopped onion and 2 cloves minced garlic with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
3. When the aromatics are soft, add 1 cup Arborio rice and stir so the rice is coated with the oil. Add 1 cup good white wine. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just a wine that you would drink. If you do not want to include the wine, you may omit this step. The alcohol cooks off and only leaves the flavor behind, so it is okay with kids, but some prefer to leave it out. Stir until nearly all the wine has absorbed.
4. Start adding the stock, one ladle-full at a time. Stir constantly and allow each ladle of stock to absorb into the rice before adding another. You don’t want the rice to go completely dry, so when you barely have liquid left, add another ladle.
5. Season with salt and pepper as you go.
6. Continue this process, stirring slowly, but almost constantly, until the rice is cooked to your desired tenderness.
7. Finish with a couple of pats of butter and the parmesan. The butter will give it a nice gloss and a rich finish.

This is the basic recipe. Now you can enhance with any number of things.
· Mushrooms: You can sauté the mushrooms in advance and add them, liquid and all, when the rice is nearly cooked, about 1-2 ladles before tender. Thawed, frozen fancy mushrooms, chopped, work very well in this. Add them after the wine or first stock addition if starting raw. Rosemary makes a nice addition to a mushroom risotto.
· Add fresh English garden peas and/or fresh corn at the end of step #6. Fresh roma tomatoes, diced and seeded are also good for a spring risotto. It is important to seed them, removing the inner gelatinous flesh and seeds.
· Add asparagus, cut in 1” pieces, about ¾ way through (1-3 ladles left to go) the rice cooking process.
· Add pumpkin puree or diced and roasted winter squash, again nearing the end of the rice process so that it has time to heat through. Fresh or dried sage is an excellent accompaniment to squash.
· At the end, before the butter and parmesan (after rice is cooked) add chopped fresh spinach, basil and toasted pine nuts. You could also mix in some pesto and sun-dried tomatoes at the end.
· Radishes, cauliflower, broccoli and such are not good for the delicate risotto. They are too strong and don’t go well.