can i freeze risotto????

[lucysmam]

i would have thought so as no cream or anything in it like that but wasnt sure as ive never frozen rice before!! tia

I wouldnt.

Rice is a bit funny. I think you can freeze it but I wouldnt.

just wondered as we had it for tea last night (very yummy and 1st time ive ever made it) and lo wolfed it down which is unusual atm. suppose i could just give her whats left tonight and make smaller amounts for her in future.

cheers amner, i wasnt too sure but you sound about as convinced as me about freezing it so will leave it

yes you can, it will be a bit thicker once frozen but fine

i make a pot especially to freeze in portions mine sometimes has cream in

Well I do quite frequently and never have any problems. It's sometimes a little bit less nice in terms of texture after it's been frozen and reaheated, but it's not harmful.
I freeze pretty much everything.

I found when I microwaved frozen risotto the rice became quite stodgy and sort of inflated. Might be better to try to defrost it and heat in a saucepan with some water or stock - what do others do to reheat it?

We freeze it here too - no problems. I defrost slowly, not in mw. It's not as nice frozen but perfectly edible.

oh, well i'll probably give it a go then as would be ideal for my lo who's getting to be a bit fussy atm. mrschop, i rarely microwave unless we've been out late or lo is screaming for tea so that wouldnt be a problem but cheers for the tip!

By FAR the best thing to do with leftover risotto is turn it into risotto balls. They're a bit of a faff to make but amazingly delicious and perfect kiddie food. In fact it's so delicious that I've even been known to make a risotto from scratch, just to have leftovers to make the balls with! Although I suppose its deliciousness depends on what risotto you make to start with - the one I do is butternut squash and sage with lots of parmesan. Anyway, when it's cold roll it into little balls, coat in flour then beaten egg then breadcrumbs and fry until golden. [drool emoticon]

never tried butternut squash but am willing to try anything once! how do you cook it?

Take the skin off (which is annoying as it's really hard) and then chop into small chunks and roast it until it starts to caramelise. You can add it to the risotto at any point if you're going to eat it all, but if you're going to reheat the leftovers then you need to add the squash when still warm from the oven, otherwise you'd need to reheat twice which you obviously can't do.

or if you cheat a bit, cut butternut squash in half and roast, then cut into pieces whencooked and add it risotto at the end

littleducks, that is definitely easier, but I prefer the taste of the squash when it caramelises (sweet tooth? moi? : ) which doesn't happen if you cook it like that.

ooooh, i like sweet stuff so will be investing in one of them when i do my shopping. cheers for info!