I adore risotto. It's basically a creamy, bowl of yumminess that can be flavoured in so many ways.
It is one of those things a lot of people shy away from, because they see it as a difficult thing to cook, and a lot of recipes are often very time consuming, however, my recipe is easy to follow, and takes around 45 minutes.
There are lots of risotto rices, but my preferred one is Arborio. I use this over the others, because it creates a very creamy texture, meaning you don't have to add cream unlike other rices - this also means it tastes rich and unhealthy, but it's relatively healthy (providing what you flavour it with). Arborio is widely available, stocked at Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys and Asda, priced around £1.00 a pack.
I recently made a porcini mushroom and pancetta risotto, with Parmesan shavings. People are often tempted with recipes like this, to add something like chicken, to bulk it out a bit - you don't need to do this. Porcini mushrooms have a very 'meaty' flavour, the rice is creamy, the pancetta and Parmesan are rich and all together it's very filling!
Ingredients
Method
Tips and tricks
It is one of those things a lot of people shy away from, because they see it as a difficult thing to cook, and a lot of recipes are often very time consuming, however, my recipe is easy to follow, and takes around 45 minutes.
There are lots of risotto rices, but my preferred one is Arborio. I use this over the others, because it creates a very creamy texture, meaning you don't have to add cream unlike other rices - this also means it tastes rich and unhealthy, but it's relatively healthy (providing what you flavour it with). Arborio is widely available, stocked at Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsburys and Asda, priced around £1.00 a pack.
I recently made a porcini mushroom and pancetta risotto, with Parmesan shavings. People are often tempted with recipes like this, to add something like chicken, to bulk it out a bit - you don't need to do this. Porcini mushrooms have a very 'meaty' flavour, the rice is creamy, the pancetta and Parmesan are rich and all together it's very filling!
Ingredients
- 20g dried porcini mushrooms
- 200g closed cup mushrooms, diced
- 1 small pack of smoked pancetta cubes (typically between 55-75g)
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 300g Arborio rice
- 1 large piece of Parmesan cheese
- 600ml warm water
- small pinch of salt
- large pinch of black pepper
Method
- First, start by putting the porcini mushrooms in a medium sized bowl and put in 300ml of the water. Leave the mushrooms to soak for around 20 minutes.
- Whilst the mushrooms are soaking, place the shallot, garlic and pancetta into a large frying pan or wok-style pan (I use a Kadai), and fry on a low-medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the shallot has started to soften, Take off the heat.
- Once your mushrooms have soaked, place a sieve over a jug, and pour the liquid and mushroom over the sieve (porcini mushrooms can sometimes have a grit on them and the sieve will stop this going into the liquid).
- Take the porcini mushrooms out of the sieve and rub them between your fingers, ensuring there is no grit on them and then roughly chop.
- Add the rice into the pan with the shallot, garlic and pancetta, and put back on the heat, leave the rice and only move it occasionally to stop it catching on the pan. You will start to hear the rice 'hissing' or 'crackling' and this is the point where you add the liquid from the porcini mushrooms.
- Allow the rice to soak up the liquid, stirring occasionally. Once the rice has soaked up the liquid, add the porcini and closed cup mushrooms, salt and pepper and top up with a glug of the remaining water.
- From this point on, all you need to do is stir the rice occasionally and keep adding a glug of water when the rice has soaked up the water. Overall, the rice takes around half an hour to cook, depending on whether you like it al dente or not.
- Whilst the rice is cooking, take your piece of Parmesan, and using a vegetable peeler, peel thin strips of the cheese to create your Parmesan shavings.
- Once the rice has cooked, is soft and the liquid has all been soaked up, take off the heat, serve in bowls and sprinkle your Parmesan shavings on the top, serve immediately.
Tips and tricks
- You'll see in the recipe I use a Kadai, this is a pan traditionally used for Indian cooking, but it's perfect for cooking most things. I use it for the risotto because it has a good depth, but doesn't get as hot as a wok pan. I use it for cooking my bolognese, curries, chilli, cottage pie filling, the list is endless. It's very versatile and I've had mine for two years and it's just as good as new! I use a Tefal non-stick Kadai, which is currently on offer from £28.00 to £17.49 with free delivery on Amazon.
- You will also see in the recipe that I use a vegetable peeler for my Parmesan shavings, whilst some cheese graters have a thicker section on them, it is difficult to control the thickness when grating the cheese.
- Porcini mushrooms can be expensive, but please don't try and substitute them in this recipe, they are essential for the meatiness and richness in the flavour of the dish. Tesco currently stock them at £2.99 for a 40g tub.
Other great risotto combinations
If you wanted to try different flavours for a risotto, the general rule is that you would always fry the shallot/onion, garlic and raw meat first, then the rice. Veggies are added later on (harder veg like peppers or courgettes once the water is added to the rice and softer veg like tomatoes or green beans are added in the last five or ten minutes of cooking.
Also, it's worth noting that this recipe doesn't have stock, due to the porcini liquid, but in other recipes without a flavoured liquid I use vegetable stock pots.
Below are a couple of lovely flavour combinations I've made, and if you would like a full recipe, please comment on the blog and I am happy to write out the full instructions for you.
- Pea, bacon and mint (fry off bacon at the start, add peas in the last five minutes of cooking and sprinkle with fresh mint when serving)
- Mediterranean chicken (fry off chicken and red onion at the start, add peppers and courgette when the first lot of water is added and whole baby plum or cherry tomatoes in the last five minutes of cooking, sprinkle with fresh coriander)