Can you share your risotto recipes with me please

[sandyballs]

I've decided we eat too many potatoes and too much pasta. I find rice a bit boring but quite like the idea of livening it up with a risotto.

Veggie and meat/fish recipes most welcome.

Risotto's my favourite meal and this is what I do:

Fry an onion cut up, lots of mushrooms, garlic (and anything else you want to add) then put them in a bowl.

Put a big dollop of butter in the frying pan and pour the risotto rice in and fry it for a few minutes.

(Oh yes, make some stock up beforehand).

Start adding the stock in slowly - stir as often as you remember to and about halfway through but it doesn't matter really when, add the onions and mushrooms back in.

Keep adding the stock until the rice has gone really soft and mushy.

Oh yes, I also add about 1/3 bottle of white wine. Put the wine in first and then use stock until it's mushy.

It can feel like it's never going to get there but keep going.

Right at the end, take it off the heat and stir in some grated parmesan or cheddar cheese.

Delicious!!

You can add in cooked chicken, bacon, prawns - anything really.

Nigella has a fab kedgeree risotto recipe in Feast.

Same recipe just about as Dotty - smoked salmon is lovely in it. I also chuck a huge tbs of parmesan into the risotto to make it extra tasty as well as sprinkling on top

Thanks, how do you know how much stock/wine/liquid to use?

And your stock should be HOT, so keep it in a saucepan and just add it as you go along.

No idea how much, I judge it by eye (you can always make up a bit more stock, or ditch a bit if you've made too much), just keep adding until it gets to the right texture.

1 pint stock per 6oz of rice, plus 1/4 pint wine - for 2 people (ish)

You need to cook the rice in hot oil/butter for a few minutes, until it is translucent, and then add some wine. After the wine has been absorbed, add hot stock bit by bit. You can make risotto with almost anything; mushrooms are nice in it, or butternut squash/pumpkin and goats cheese for something seasonal.

Also scallops. I use a mix of fish and veg stock (I find all fish stock too strong), plus white wine, and then throw the scallops in for the last few seconds. Yummy.

I have a lovely bacon, pea and goats cheese recipe (it is one of Jamie Olivers) and it is delicious (very fattening though but very very tasty).

If you are interested, I will type the recipe for you.

Oh I also do a nice vegetable one that I freeze for DS as it has tons of different veg in.

Again, let me know if you are interested - am too lazy to type the recipe unless you want it.

Basic risotto technique:

One large/two small sweet onions
Two cloves garlic
Marrow bone
Olive oil
Butter
Fresh chicken stock
500g arborio or vialone nano rice
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Chop onion finely and cook gently in a heavy bottomed pan in a generous quantity of olive oil and butter until translucent (about 10 minutes). Add chopped garlic and cook for a further couple of minutes. Add chopped marrow.

Raise heat to high and add rice, stirring over high heat until all the rice is coated with fat and it is beginning to colour.

Add a couple of ladels of hot chicken stock. Lower heat. Let rice absorb stock. When almost absorbed, add another ladleful of stock. Continue, stirring occasionally, until rice is cooked but still firm and there is a certain amount of thick liquid.

Remove from heat, add a large lump of cold butter and some freshly grated parmesan cheese and put lid on risotto and leave to rest for five minutes. Stir with a fork and serve.

I like mushrooms (funghi porcini/cèpes) at this time of year, just after the garlic. They need to cook for quite a while.

Asparagus - cooked first, add at end, chopped.

Pea and pancetta - add pancetta with garlic, peas just before end.

Saffron - add with stock.

I have a wonderful one which doesn't involve tarting about adding stock slowly. You cook the meat/veg, add the rice, cook for a bit, tip in the stock and bung it in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Obviously I can type the whole recipe here, properly, if you like

We have two we enjoy on a regular basis at home
Courgette, thyme and saffron
smoked fish (undyed smoked haddock is best) and leek

I see other posters have already given you the basic techniques for a risotto base

It is worth buying proper risotto rice - carnaroli is good for most, but vialone nano suits fish/shellfish particularly well

Co-Op pudding rice as an emergency substitute did not work at all

mushroom leek and tarragon

3 leeks sweat till translucent in butter
add about 200-250g chestnut mushrooms
then rice (we do about 14oz for us)
then 1pt stock (i use marigold bouillon it's the business) and some dried tarragon - about a dessertsppon or more

etc etc ladelfuls and water

grate cheese on

you can just do a plain one and then dump roast veg on

that's nice too

this one first posted by cod is the best ever, I made it regularly. Very easy and tasty. I use sains ttd aborio rice for it.

Paella is good too, and very easy if you like fish based. I make this one from the bbc website. Only problem is that neither seem to freeze well.

the best combo is : large prawns, peas, shallots and red pepper. Stir in loads of basil and mint at the end. To die for.Oh, and squeeze a big fat lemon on top too.

I make 3 regularly - mushroom & blue cheese, butternut squash (with creamy lancashire cheese) and pea and parmesan (coutesy of Nigella).

You can use dry martini/vermouth as an alternative to wine too (saves opening a bottle every time).

ooh I'd like the recipe for the oven cooked done - we love risotto. Usually do chicken and asparagus or sausage and red wine

Ceebeegeebies, could I have your bacon,pea and goats cheese recipe please?

Message withdrawn

Norks - will type it when DS's isn't at my feet whinging

Can'tsleep - could you type your mushroom and blue cheese one cos that sounds yum.

Will jot it out later for you. I don't follow actual recipes, so quantities will all be a bit approximate though!

Someone on Mn gave me a really yummy risotto recipe - can't remember hwo now though.

Mushroom, parmesan and sun dried tomato.

• Soften some onion in a pan
• add some chopped red pepper and a couple of sticks of chopped up celery
• cook for a couple of minutes whilst they soften too
• throw in lots and lots of mushrooms (remember they disappear to nothing) - I like a selection of different types of mushrooms, and maybe a handful of soaked dried wild mushrooms too
• allow a few minutes to cook down
• add half a pack of arborio rice
• heat till rice goes kind of transulcent
• add 1.75pints of hot stock
• cook for 20 minutes, stirring regularly as the rice take sup all the liquid
• add 2oz grated parmesan
• add a handful of sundried tomatoes
• cook for a minute or two until cheese is metled inand tomatoes are warm
• serve and sprinkle with more parmesan

Fantastic with lots of crusty bread. Winner every time

Here is the recipe for the bacon, pea and goats cheese recipe - the amounts are for 4 servings so you can adjust accordingly.

1 litre of chicken or veg stock
70g butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
100g streaky bacon, cut into strips
Thyme
400g risotto rice
150ml white wine
200g frozen peas
115g crumbly goats cheese
115g parmesan cheese

Heat the stock in a saucepan. In a seperate pan, heat a knob of butter and add the onion, bacon and thyme. Fry for 8 minutes until the onion is soft but not coloured. Add the rice and turn up the heat so it fries. Once rice looks translucent (about 1 minute) add the white wine and stir. Add a ladle of stock and a pinch of salt. Turn the heat down to a fairly high simmer and keep adding ladlefuls of stock stirring constantly and allowing each lot of stock to be absorbed. Put the peas in the stock towards the end and add them with each ladleful of stock. Stir until the rice is soft and then season. Remove from the heat and stir in half the goats cheese, the rest of the butter and the parmesan. Sprinkle the remaining goats cheese over the top and serve.