Risotto – Basic Recipe

Risotto is my husband's specialty. He loves making it, and he makes it perfectly.

It's a rice dish in which the rice, slowly cooked in broth, swells, releases its starch and becomes sticky, creamy and thick. The best rice for this dish is special risotto rice with short, round grains, which doesn't turn mushy. Risotto should be served right after it's made, because it should still be moist, not too dry and not clumpy. If you let it cool down, the rice will absorb too much moisture.

Today I'm giving you the basic recipe for risotto, to which you can add all kinds of extras, like seafood, vegetables, herbs, fish, etc. We most often eat it with just peas, alongside braised or baked fish. It's also delicious with pumpkin, or with fish and yellow string beans. Add-ins such as vegetables (already cooked or roasted beforehand) or fish should be added in step 3. The fish should first be poached for 3-5 minutes in vegetable stock, which can also be added to the risotto (or rather, should be!).

Risotto, basic recipe

The recipe comes from Jamie Oliver's book "Jamie's Kitchen"

Instructions:

1. Peel and finely chop the onion, celery root and garlic. Bring the stock to a boil. In a second pot or a skillet, heat the olive oil with the butter, then add the onion, garlic and celery root and sweat them over low heat for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft but not browned. Add the rice and turn up the heat.
2. Stir the rice constantly. After 1 minute it should be slightly cooked and a little translucent. Then add the wine and keep stirring until the alcohol evaporates.
3. As soon as the rice has absorbed all the wine, add 1 ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Lower the heat so that everything only gently bubbles. Be careful that the heat isn't too high, because then the rice will become soft on the outside but still hard inside, and the risotto won't turn out. Slowly add more ladles of stock, stirring all the time, but each time wait until the previously added liquid has been completely absorbed. After 15 minutes you can taste the rice to see if it's soft enough. The grains should be tender but still slightly firm in the center. Keep adding more stock, and when it runs out, add boiling water. Now you can also season the rice with salt and pepper.
4. Take the pot off the burner, stir in the butter and Parmesan well, and cover. Now the risotto should "rest" for about 2 minutes, which is very important for this dish. This is exactly how you get that creamy consistency. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!