Risotto is one of my favorite foods… I am part Filipino, so I grew up enjoying rice for three meals a day! And by enjoy, I mean my grandparents continued shoveling it on to my plate after I’d insisted I was full three servings ago.
A lot of countries have their version of risotto. The Filipino version is called lugaw. In China, they have congee. In the U.S., we have creamy chicken and rice. A few years ago, I went through a savory breakfast porridge phase. Maybe that should make a comeback. I bet it’s a thing in Scotland.
Anyway, the thing about risotto is you have to be patient with it. It’s a high-maintenance dish that requires frequent stirring for 45 minutes while eyeing the liquid level, adding a cup of wine or broth at a time when needed.
But the reward is high, I can promise you. It is creamy. Savory. Buttery. Tangy. And with a little crunch from toasted pine nuts, it’s the rice dish of your dreams.
What’s really nice about it, though, is you can flavor it any way you want. Plain risotto cooked in wine and chicken broth can be tossed with butter and parmesan or creamed garlicy peas and prosciutto just the same. Simple or complex. Cracked pepper or truffle-topped. Mushroom or asparagus. However you dress it, inhale it immediately after.
If you’re looking for a shortcut, cook your risotto in a pressure cooker or rice cooker. My friend Lauren uses a recipe where she slow cooks it in the oven. (I’ll have to inquire further on this…) The ratio depends on the type of rice you use, but for the classic risotto rice called arborrio rice, it’s about 1 cup of rice to 4 cups of liquid. If you’re using jasmine, it’s a bit less, about 1 cup of rice to 2.5 cups of liquid. It’s not the traditional way, but I’ve done the shortcut method in many a pinch and it’s just as tasty, so who cares if you did it the “correct” way?
For the purist, though, here’s the gist of it. Fry your alum (garlic, onion, shallot, leek, etc.) of choice in hot butter or extra virgin olive oil. Add in the rice and toss it around with a wooden spoon. Once the rice is a light golden brown, add one cup of dry white wine. It’ll bubble and turn a bit syrupy after a couple of minutes. Once almost all of the wine has evaporated, add another cup of wine, then two cups of chicken broth, waiting between each cup for the liquid to reduce by about 75%. Lower the heat, add in butter, grated parmesan cheese, and cream, or any other addition as you see fit. Then generously shovel it in to your gracious mouth.
Sweet Corn Risotto
Ingredients
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup arborrio rice
2 cups dry white wine
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can of corn (frozen or fresh are good too!!)
1 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp bacon fat + 1 tbsp EVOO (2 tbsp of butter is also fine if you don’t have bacon fat)
1 cup half and half
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted golden brown (~3-4 minutes on broil)
Process
In a large non-stick skillet on medium heat, sautee leek and garlic in olive oil. Once onion is translucent, add salt and pour in rice. Stir, coating the rice in a bit of oil. Stir occasionally, and once the rice has turned a light golden brown, pour in the first cup of wine. Allow the wine to absorb into the rice and is almost completely evaporated. Then add the next cup of wine and chicken broth in a similar manner: one cup at a time and waiting until it is almost evaporated.
While you are between adding cups of liquid to your rice, melt butter, bacon fat, and olive oil in a medium-sized sauce pot on high heat. Add onion, cooking until translucent. Add corn and all of the spices and sugar. When the corn has taken on a golden yellow color, pour in the half and half and reduce the heat to low. Bring it to a simmer (do not boil!!) and use a hand mixer to puree it. Stir in the parmesan cheese, using a whisk to combine the parmesan has melted completely.
Back to the risotto pan, once you have added your final cup of chicken broth to your rice and the liquid has reduced almost entirely, you can add in the corn. (If you aren’t ready to add the corn yet, change the heat to the lowest setting on your stove and stir occasionally so it doesn’t burn.) Combine completely and remove from heat immediately. Serve in bowls and top with parsley and toasted pine nuts.