Just made a risotto for the first time and its really bland...what can I add to make it tastier

[ladytophamhatt]

Chicken, mushroom, onions already in.

And by the way ...risotto is peasant food !

Risotto is one of the first things I learned to cook. Very easy, so long as the stock is hot and you stir a lot. It wasn't gourmet though - just a good way to use up chicken left overs. Still yummy though, and one of the few things that my fussy dd has always eaten. I like the way you can put in any left overs lying around. I don't like it with parmesan or dried mushrooms though (in fact I think dried mushrooms are seriously rank). My mum does a mean pheasant stock risotto and she uses basmati rice, so so not proper!

Is it the texture of the mushrooms Nooka? If so, it's worth chopping them really small when they're reconstituted, cos they are sooooo tasty.

Well it's partly the sliminess but mostly I think they taste nasty. I really like fresh mushrooms though.

if you really don't like parmesan you can subsitute peccorino which is also a bit cheaper than fresh parmesan....

I stir in some pesto
parmasan, or emmantal cheese

A pack of steam fresh veg

I also like to melt some cream cheese in at the end

probably not authentic, but the OP did ask how to make it tasty

ingles2 - I disagree on all counts - lots of disgusting lumpy rice messes get called risotto - a proper risotto is very hard to master - and I can assure you that in the restaurant business, risotto is one of the most difficult recipes to teach to cooks / to find good cooks for.

And risotto is not peasant food. Where on earth did you get that idea?

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Cod - come on , you are more educated than that - what about Marco Polo? The Renaissance? They both had huge influences on the food of the Italian aristocracy and bourgeoisie.

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well rice was indeed a peasant food in northern italy. and making standard risotto can look easy, but Anna is right, getting the right consistence, creaminess (??? does this word exist?), is not easy at all.
Actually Anna I need to pick up your brain re Greece (sorry for hijack!)

Email me Franca.

Yes, Italy was predominantly an agrarian society until after ww2. this is why we kept our food traditions

(let me checl if i still have your email address...)

As far as I know rice was introduced by the Saracens in the 7-800's, the renaissance primarily introduced italian agrarian cuisine into French society who served multiple courses as haute cuisine. However this is all pretentious foodie twaddle which is probably of no interest to the OP, certainly doesn't help her make something tasty to eat and probably puts her off.

Rice wasn't cultivated in Italy before the 14th century - it was imported from Alexandria and highly taxed.

lol at this thread turning into a History of Rice lesson.

Only on MN

My limited understanding of risotto harks from the film the Big Night where 2 Italian brothers open a failing restaurant in NY with risotto on the menu. It brings across the labour of love that makes an authentic risotto.

Whilst interesting, I also don't see how poncey risotto is helpful to the OP, any more than cordon bleu cooking is relevant if I am drumming up a delicious home-cooked dinner for my family.

Surely whatever works, easy to make and is tasty? I am such a peasant.

Blueshoes - the OP was asking for help in making her risotto taste better.

So surely explaining what the techniques are for making a good risotto is just answering her question?

Anna, I make lots of rice-based dishes, including paella, kedgeree, Chinese fried rice, congee.

Yes, there are lots of techniques, different types of rice, different ways of cooking, different ingredients. There is the purist way to cook risotto, of which I am no doubt you are an expert. But it does not mean that there is only one way for a risotto to taste good.

As for risotto being a difficult technique, for a restaurant, I agree. Not for home-based cooking.

I've had far too much disgusting rice stodge served at people's houses to agree with that .

I could equally be appalled at overcooked pasta and my favourite bugbear, overcooked noodles. Risotto, is actually quite forgiving IMO

Overcooked pasta is gross too (though I never get served pasta at people's homes), but it's still much easier to learn to cook pasta al dente than risotto al dente...