Risotto, along with pasta, pizza, lasagna, is the hallmark of Italian cuisine. Apart from the preparatory steps, this dish is cooked within half an hour. And the correct, authentic taste depends, first of all, on the type of rice used, the brand of parmesan, olive oil, white wine. Therefore, to prepare risotto, as in an Italian restaurant, choose quality products and do not replace them with cheaper counterparts.
Rice selection and preparation
Rice is the main and integral part of risotto. In Italy, strictly defined varieties are used for the preparation of this dish, which are distinguished by a high starch content. The right rice is responsible for the delicate, creamy texture of the finished risotto, and the grains themselves, when tasting, should retain a slight hardness - the very state of "aldente". Several varieties are ideally matched to all of the above rules: arborio, maratelli, carnaroli, baldo, padano, vialone nano. They differ in size, grain shape, starch content, therefore in Italy they are used for different variations of the basic recipe.
In Russia, the easiest way to find arborio rice in stores. It is well suited for preparing risotto "Bianco" - a classic base that requires minimal effort and a set of products. By the way, rice for this dish is never washed, so as not to wash off the valuable starch. In dry form, to prepare one serving, you need about 70 g of cereal.
There is also an important preparatory step in the risotto recipe that must be done in advance. We are talking about chicken or vegetable broth. For a dish designed for 4-6 servings, you will need 1.5-2 liters of ready-made broth. During cooking, it is added to risotto hot in several stages. For 2 liters of broth, you will need the following ingredients:
- 1 kg of chicken;
- 200 g onions;
- 200 g carrots;
- 2-3 pcs. bay leaf;
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of dry herbs (thyme, parsley, marjoram);
- salt to taste.
Cook the chicken pieces together with coarsely chopped onions and carrots over low heat for an hour, periodically removing scale and foam. Then add dry herbs, salt and let the broth sit on the stove for another 30 minutes. Place the bay leaf in a saucepan 10 minutes before cooking. Strain the resulting broth and put it back on low heat so that it remains hot during the preparation of the risotto.
Basic recipe for risotto "Bianco"
For a classic risotto recipe for 4-6 people, you will need the following products:
- 2 tbsp. tablespoons of olive oil;
- 100 g butter;
- 150 g shallots;
- 300 g of rice;
- 150 ml of dry white wine;
- 100 g parmesan.
In Italy, risotto is usually cooked in large pans with high sides and a thick bottom. The correct choice of cookware ensures a high evaporation rate of the liquid and an even heating of the rice. Since the dish requires constant stirring during cooking, a perforated cooking spatula is well suited for this purpose.
First, melt half of the butter in a frying pan and add 4 tablespoons of olive oil to it. Add finely chopped shallots to this mixture. It must be fried until soft and transparent, avoiding the appearance of a brown crust. Then pour dry, unwashed rice into the pan, fry with constant stirring for 1 minute.
The next step is to pour in dry white wine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates completely. Add hot broth to the rice in small portions of 100-150 ml. Let it boil and only then stir the dish so that the gluten has time to stand out from the rice. Once the broth is completely absorbed, you can add the next serving. In total, the rice should sit on the stove for about 20 minutes.
The finished dish should have a creamy texture, and the rice should be slightly firm when bitten. Finally, add the remaining butter and finely grated Parmesan. Due to the fact that the cheese and chicken broth are salty, there is no need to salt the rice.
Risotto is served and eaten only freshly prepared. Reheating will adversely affect its appearance and taste.
Variations of the classic risotto
Even in Italy, each chef prepares risotto differently. Like pizza, pasta or lasagne, this classic dish has hundreds of variations. Vegetables, mushrooms, bacon, meat, fish, seafood and even fruits are added to it. Vegetarian options are usually prepared with vegetable broth. Sometimes simple boiling water is used in recipes, although this depletes the taste of the finished dish to some extent.
One of the most popular additions to the basic recipe is mushrooms. They are pre-fried in a separate pan and added 5 minutes before the dish is ready. If there is a meat component in the risotto, the preparation begins with pre-frying the meat or poultry, and at the subsequent stages, rice is poured, wine and broth are poured.
If the risotto is supplemented with fresh mushrooms, raw or frozen vegetables that are quickly cooked, they are added in the middle of cooking. As with the basic recipe, these ingredients are cooked together with the rice in broth or water with constant stirring. After about 10 minutes, remove from heat, add Parmesan and butter and serve.
