[Sca-cooks] Risotto

Christiane Truelove christianetrue at earthlink.net
Sun Aug 7 17:29:16 PDT 2011


Actually, you don't really need cheese or cream for a risotto, though a sprinkling of parmesan stirred in before serving is a heavenly addition.

Risotto is made with short-grain rice, properly, arborio rice from Italy (though I found a similar rice imported from Turkey that worked fairly well). The arborio rice grains are short and very fat.

Risotto is time-consuming because of all the liquid you have to add and the constant stirring, stirring, stirring as the liquids absorb (stop stirring and it cements to the bottom of the pot). You can't rush this process. The creaminess comes from the starches released by the rice as it cooks; and the fats from the butter and broth (chicken broth is traditional, but fish broth is also used and essential for a seafood risotto; white wine can also be used in addition to the broth).

When I saute my onions in butter for my risotto base, I add ground cubebs instead of black pepper. Yummy! I also tend to make my risotto thicker, not as liquid as traditionally called for. I usually make it as an accompaniment for roasted chicken.

YIS,
Adelisa
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