Although I hadn’t stirred up my own pot of risotto for a while, it landed on my front burner again after I read Ruth Reichl’s observations about it in her newest book, “Garlic and Sapphires.”
In her delightful memoir of her undercover days as restaurant critic for the New York Times, she writes:
“Risotto has a reputation for being difficult. It’s not, but it does require good ingredients. Above all, it demands that you use good stock; in my opinion canned broth is not an acceptable substitute. You must use good rice too.”
Clearly, the rice is the most crucial ingredient of any true and successful risotto. Arborio, arborio superfino, vialone and carnaroli rice all are blessed with the ability to absorb a large quantity of liquid without turning to mush. But I’ve also had grand success with a simple California medium-grain rice.
Plus, Japanese short-grain rice is a perfectly adequate substitute. Of course, the flavor is slightly different, and the true risotto aficionado would notice that the grains are not the same size as arboria and its Italian cousins I just mentioned, and will have a different mouth feel.
Plus, because of their starch structure, these substitute rices seem easier to overcook, traveling from the desired al dente stage to mush in a shorter time.
The supporting cast of ingredients that you add to risotto – the condimenti – is also a major part of the production, and the reason risotto is as versatile as pasta. Hundreds of recipes for risotto abound, calling for a plethora of tasty elements including ham, shrimp and chicken, pesto, peas and zucchini.
Which means that risotto is a dish you can truly make your own since there are no hard and fast rules about the ingredients you add to it.
That’s also true about the thickness or consistency of the finished offering. To determine when it’s time to stop stirring, just follow the advice of two more cookbook authors and popular foodies, Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. They say risotto is done “when you like it.”
Well, with a Thanksgiving weekend ahead, perhaps some of that leftover turkey or portions of the turkey side dishes can end up in a simple offering of risotto. What a lovely way to sustain the comfort level for a few more days. That’s going to be the plan around my house.
This basic recipe is Cook’s Illustrated Magazine’s method for making risotto.
Basic risotto
3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1medium onion, diced
2-4ounces country ham, pancetta, prosciutto, or other flavorful cured meat, minced
2cups arborio rice
Salt
5-6cups homemade chicken broth (or 1 can low-sodium broth mixed with 3 cups water)
1/2cup dry white wine
1/2cup grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese, plus extra for passing
Heat oil in a heavy pot 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Add onions and ham; saute, stirring occasionally, until onions soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in rice and 1 teaspoon salt or to taste. Add 3 cups broth and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until pan bottom is dry when rice is pulled back with spoon, 8 to 10 minutes.
Add wine, stirring frequently until absorbed. Then add additional broth in 1/2-cup portions, stirring constantly until each addition is absorbed; cook until rice is creamy but still somewhat firm in center (if broth runs out before this happens, add water in 1/2-cup increments), 10 to 12 minutes longer. Stir in cheese. Serve on a wide platter or individual plates with additional cheese passed separately.
Variations:
Risotto with cabbage and country ham: Follow the recipe for basic risotto, adding 1/2 small cabbage, shredded, to the pan after the onions have softened. Cover pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is very soft, limp and beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Add rice and salt and proceed as directed.
Risotto with tomatoes and basil: Follow recipe for basic risotto, adding 1 1/2 pounds peeled, seeded, and chopped plum tomatoes to pan after onions have softened (good quality canned tomatoes are okay). Cover and cook over medium heat until tomatoes start to look like a thin sauce, about 10 minutes. Add rice and salt and proceed as directed, sprinkling each serving of risotto with 1 tablespoon shredded fresh basil leaves.
Ruth Reichl’s risotto with asparagus
1/2pound asparagus
5-6cups homemade chicken stock
1/2teaspoon saffron strands, crumbled
3tablespoons butter
2tablespoons olive oil
1medium red onion, diced
1smallish carrot, diced
2small zucchini, diced
1/2teaspoon salt
2cups arborio rice
1/2cup dry white wine
1/2cup thawed frozen peas
1/2cup Parmigiano cheese, plus extra for the table
Salt and pepper to taste
Cut off the tips of the asparagus and set them aside. Dice the top half of the stalks (discard the rest), and set the diced asparagus aside.
Bring the stock to a steady simmer in a saucepan. Remove 1/4 cup of the stock. Add the saffron and set aside.
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter with the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the onion and cook for about 6 minutes, until it is golden. Add the carrot and cook for 5 minutes more. Add the zucchini, diced asparagus, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook for about 5 minutes more.
Add the rice and stir until it is coated with the oil. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until it has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Now slowly add enough simmering stock to cover the rice, and cook, stirring, until it has evaporatoed. Keep adding, stirring, and evaporating for about 20 minutes. Then add the asparagus tips and peas, along with the saffron stock, and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the rice is soft on the outside and still has a bit of a bite at the center. Add a few more spoonfuls of stock, remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the cheese. Taste for salt and pepper, and serve with extra cheese for people to add to their own taste. Makes 4 servings.
From “Garlic and Sapphires,” by Ruth Reichl
Jan Roberts-Dominguez is a Corvallis, Ore., food writer, cookbook author and artist. Readers can contact her by e-mail at janrd@proaxis.com.
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