Risotto (part 1)

How to make a basic risotto

I am on a bit of a crusade to rid the world of bad risotto, so you will notice a bit of a flurry of risotto related blogs over the coming days/ weeks. Today I'll cover the basics of a good risotto and then look at extra tips etc later.

Firstly get your equipment right, you need a heavy bottomed saucepan, a spatula for stirring and remember to have a saucepan going with your stock (see risotto tips).

Serves 4 (or 2 with enough left over for aranchini the next day)

A very good glug olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped finely and evenly

350g arborio rice

1 glass of white wine

1 litre chicken stock (or veg stock if you'd rather)

Heat your glug of oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan, medium-low heat, then throw in your onions. 

You want to cook the onions evenly, stirring with a spatula and not let them colour, once they are soft add your rice and cook, stirring, for a good few minutes, again not letting it colour, until the grains are glossy and look a little translucent. 

Stir, stir, stir

Now add your wine, which will smell wondrous. Stir, stir, stir.

Once the wine has been absorbed it is basically a job of adding a ladle of stock whenever the risotto looks dry and stirring, stirring, stirring. It will probably take about 15-20 minutes of stirring and stock adding, I recommend enjoying another glass of white wine while you do this. 

It is ready when it is creamy and cooked through, though you want the grains to still have a little bit of bite to them.

Enjoy.

Once damn nice bacon, leek and blue cheese risotto

Once you have mastered the basics of a good risotto you can play about with different flavour combinations, favourites of mine include prawn, lemon and rocket; and leek and bacon. If cooking a chicken risotto I wouldn't pre-cook the chicken, instead keep the pieces small and add them at the same time as the wine and it should be perfectly tender once the risotto is cooked.