5 tasty risottos

by The Flamingo

Rice is one of my favorite dishes to prepare and enjoy. But not just any type of rice, risottos are the best in my opinion. It is actually one of the first things I cooked on my own when I was at University. So I’ve been perfecting it for a while now.

There is a special way to prepare good and authentic risottos, Italian style. The ingredients that are very important in a risotto are: homemade stock (chicken or vegetable), olive oil, white wine, garlic and onion, butter and Parmesan cheese. I mostly use a mixture of wild rice for my dishes, but also special risotto rice. Ideally, I prepare the stock ahead of time and I just freeze it in many containers, so I have enough for 3-4 risottos. For homemade stock any vegetable you have will do (carrots, parsnips, parsley roots, celery, leeks, peppers). The tricky part of the risotto is adding your stock ladle by ladle, mixing the whole time for 18 minutes or so, until the rice is al dente. 

Here are some of my favorite risotto recipes that my family loves the most:

 

1. Shrimp and bacon risotto

• 1 big cup of rice
• 250g shrimp
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• some slices of bacon (optional)
• 3 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable)
• 1 chunk of butter
• ⅓ cup white wine
• Parmesan cheese
• olive oil
• chili flakes
• salt
• lemon juice

Clean the shrimp and peel it if needed. Mince the onion and the garlic. Bring your stock to a boil and let it rest until you need it. Heat up a large deep pan, sprinkle olive oil. Add the minced onion and garlic and wait until they turn golden, then add the shrimp. Sprinkle chili flakes and mix well. Wait until the shrimps turn pinkish and add the rice. Mix everything constantly until the rice turns translucent. Then add the white wine and stir. Turn down the heat a bit. Here comes the tricky part: add a ladle of stock and stir for the whole time the rice absorbs the moisture, then add another ladle of stock and so on. Mix the whole time so the rice doesn’t stick. After 18 minutes taste the rice and if it’s cooked through then the hard part is done. Add the chunk of butter, salt to your taste and lots of grated Parmesan cheese. Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice on top of the risotto and mix everything together. Remove the pan from the stove and let it rest. In the meantime fry the sliced bacon in a different pan and when it’s crispy just sprinkle it on top of the risotto and mix it in. Your creamy shrimp and bacon risotto is ready to be served. The shrimp should be tender, and yet well done, the rice should be al dente and the taste should have that bite from the lemon and the sweetness of the seafood mixed with the strong palette of the Parmesan. 

2. Mushroom risotto

• 400g wild mushrooms (Champignons work as well, but they’re not as flavourful)
• 1 big cup of risotto rice or wild rice 
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• ⅓ cup  white wine
• 1 chunk of butter
• Parmesan cheese
• 3 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable)
• lemon juice
• olive oil
• salt and pepper 

Wash all your veggies well and prepare everything you need. Bring your broth to a boil and let it rest until you need it. Mince the onion and garlic. Chop the mushrooms in big chunks. Take a deep pan, a ceramic one will be a healthier choice, or a pot and put it on the stove, with high heat at first. Drizzle olive oil when the pan is hot. Add the onion and garlic and let it golden. Add the rice and stir till it becomes translucent. Pour the wine and stir again. Then add the mushrooms on top of the rice and let them simmer under the cover for a couple of minutes with just a tiny bit of water added so the rice doesn’t stick. Remove the cover, lower the heat of the stove and slowly add one ladle of your stock, then stir. Add another ladle, stir until absorbed and so on. Taste your rice. Be careful not to overcook it. It all depends on your stove and on your pan. No more than a maximal 20 minutes will do, from the time you put the rice in the pan. If your rice is cooked through, add the chunk of butter and incorporate it into the mix till it melts. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir. Grate the Parmesan cheese over the rice. Take the half of the lemon and squeeze a few drops, just to give a kick to your flavours. Be careful not to squeeze too much, you don’t want a sour risotto. The result is a creamy mushroom risotto, which is a wonderful replacement to any meat dish.

3. Pumpkin, Gorgonzola and bacon risotto (*if you’re not a fan of Gorgonzola, goat cheese is as delicious)

• 1 big cup of wild rice/risotto rice
• 1 chunk of butternut pumpkin
• 100 g of creamy, mild Gorgonzola (or goat cheese)
• some slices of bacon (optionally)
• 1 leek (instead of an onion)
• 2 garlic cloves
• stock
• 1 chunk of butter
• ⅓ cup  white wine
• Parmesan cheese
• salt  and pepper
• olive oil
• lemon juice

Wash your pumpkin and peel it. Slice into big cubes and boil them. When tender, add them into a blender with some of the boiled water. Blend it into a perfect soup. Also add one cup of stock to this blend and mix well. Mince the leek and garlic. Heat up a large deep pan, sprinkle olive oil. Add the minced leek and garlic, wait until they turn golden, then add the rice. Mix everything constantly until the rice turns translucent. Then add the white wine and stir. Turn down the heat a bit. Here comes the tricky part: add a ladle of pumpkin stock and stir for the whole time the rice absorbs the moisture, then add another ladle of pumpkin stock and so on. Mix the whole time so the rice doesn’t stick. After 18 minutes taste the rice and if it’s cooked through then the hard part it’s done. Add the Gorgonzola cheese, butter and melt them into the mix. Add salt, pepper to your taste, grated Parmesan and stir everything together. Remove from the stove. In a different pan fry the bacon until crispy, then add it to the risotto and incorporate it. Add some lemon juice into the mix. The risotto should taste sweet because of the pumpkin, with a lemony bite, smoky as well, but also have that unique Gorgonzola flavour which goes so well with sweetness

4. Fishy risotto

• 1 big cup of wild rice/risotto rice
• 2 fillets of white fish (cod, hake, halibut)
• 1 pak choy
• 1 small carrot
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1l coconut milk
• olive oil
• butter
• Parmesan cheese
• salt, pepper

Wash all your veggies well and prepare everything you need. Mince the garlic and onion. Slice the pack choy finely, each leaf separately. Grate the carrot into fine pieces. Into a large deep pan heat the olive oil and add the minced onion and garlic. When they turn golden add the carrot and pak choy. Mix everything and add the two fish fillets, you don’t need to cut them. Turn them on both sides for one minute, then add the cup of rice. You can mix everything together, the fish will begin to disintegrate on its own. Pour two ladles of coconut milk and begin mixing continuously. When the juices are absorbed, pour another ladle and so on, until your rice is cooked al dente. Add a chunk of butter, salt, pepper and grated Parmesan cheese. Mix everything together and your Italian/Asian style fusion risotto will be ready to serve. Should have that sweet white fish flavour, which goes so well with coconut milk.

5. Paella style risotto

• 1 big cup of wild rice/risotto rice
• 200g chicken
• 200g shrimp
• 100g chorizo
• 1 ripe tomato
• 1 small red bell pepper
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable)
• ⅓ cup white wine
• Parmesan cheese
• olive oil
• salt
• chili flakes 

Wash all your veggies well and prepare everything you need. Cut the chicken into small bite sized pieces. Peel and wash the shrimp. Slice your chorizo. Mince the onion. Heat up your stock in a pot. In a blender add the tomato, bell pepper and the 2 cloves of garlic. Blend everything together until you have a nice homogeneous sauce. Add olive oil to a large deep pan and fry the minced onion. Add the chicken and the shrimp and mix them well until the chicken turns white and the shrimp turns pink. Add the chili flakes and the rice. Mix until the rice turns translucent, then pour the white wine. Begin adding the stock ladle by ladle. After 10 minutes of stirring add the blended red sauce and mix again. Let it cook for another 5-7 minutes, in the meantime ensuring that there is enough stock so the rice won’t stick. Add the chorizo, mix it in with everything, add salt and grated Parmesan. Let it rest with no lid on for 5-10 minutes, then serve. The paella should be sweet and have that chorizo smokiness. 

These are some of my creamy risotto recipes. They are perfect for autumn, what I call “comfort food” for me personally. Buon Appetito!

Photos from Flamingo‘s archive.