My first oven baked risotto

[lucysmam]

was not a success

I followed the instructions to the letter . . . 400g can of chopped toms, 500ml veg stock & 100ml wine which they said was optional so I added an extra 100ml stock as I have no wine of any sort in the house atm.

Instead of turning out yummy with a baked sort of 'crust' on the top like in the picture, I had to tip it into a big pan and finish it off on the hob as some of the rice was uncooked after the 25mins at 190C the recipe said it needed.

Can someone help me figure out where I went wrong please, as it originally seemed a good idea to be able to pop it in the oven and let it cook, stirring occasionally. However, in reality it wasn't such a good thing at all as it took me over an hour to produce tea for myself and my oh

Thanks in advance for any advice, even if it's stick to doing it on the hob!

oh, I should have said, the recipe said to use those quantities of toms, stock and wine for 300g of rice

It usually takes much longer - I cook mine at 180°C for 45 mins - 1 hr, topping up liquid if necessary.

Maybe that's where I went wrong then! I expected a recipe out of a book to have been tested and be accurate though.

I might give it another go another night. Just a bit disappointed it didn't work out like expected tbh

The proportions are about right, although I tend to put a lot of veg in mine so maybe that makes more liquid in the end. Basically, the temperature shouldn't be too high, the cooking should be slow and the dish should also be no higher than the middle shelf. If you see the top starting to brown too much put foil over it. I don't know what recipe you used but I vaguely follow a traditional Italian one and it's all very slow cooking.

Keep at it lucysmam - love your threads, they're an inspiration

it was one from one of my MIL's many books that I copied out the other day. No idea what book it was

I will try cooking it on a lower heat for longer next time I think. Maybe it ought to be covered from the 'off'? Although the recipe didn't say so.

Thanks Ramble, I'm trying!

Mine's 45 minutes, covered with a "tight fitting lid". TBH, I leave it til it's done, checking it regularly after about 40 minutes.

Right then, lower heat, longer & covered right from the start!

Thanks for the advice, have made a note in my book of what to try next time & got my fingers crossed it works better

No good at links, but I'll try.....

Delia Smith's mushroom risotto, even my kids can make it and it's lovely:

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/oven-baked-wild-mushroom-risotto,1254,RC.html

If that didn't work, it's easy enough to find online

thanks Boden, I recall someone suggesting Delia a while back so will have a look for that later on

It's really frustrating when a recipe doesn't work, isn't it?

But chalk it up to experience. After a while you will begin to be able to spot these inconsistencies - you will know now, for instance, that a risotto is bound to take longer than 25 mins.

What was it like when you did finish it?

And just one question I suppose - what rice did the recipe specify and did you use the same type - and how old was it? No idea with rice, but with certain pulses, once they're old, they take much more cooking to soften.

Very frustrating BIAW!

It was quite tasty actually even though I was disappointed it looked nothing like the picture & my oh smothered his in mozarella

I will chalk it up to experience as you said though and remember that it will take longer next time!

It said Arborrio (sp?) or the risotto rice beginning with C (which I definately cannot spell) & I used a new pack of arborrio from Asda this week

But I didn't know that about pulses taking longer to cook as they got older!

Chick peas are especially difficult. I once cooked a batch for hours and they never went soft! If I see a recipe that specifies them, I tend to either avoid it or use canned ones instead, just because of that one experience.

hmmmm, mine never seem to go soft. That may be why oh isn't keen on them. Will check the date on them in a bit when I have a look through my cupboards to see what we need Friday

Arborio rice is fine, as is canarolo, nano, baldo etc. I've never had a problem with old rice taking longer to cook. Pulses yes, but cereals no. BTW, with old pulses put a teaspoon of bicarbonate in the soaking water as it helps soften them.

Lucysmam, I always have problems with following recipes to the letter and often find I have to tweak things a bit. Mine never looks anything like the picture either.
What I find works is tasting things as you go along and testing textures before taking out of pans/ovens etc. As you build up confidence you'll probably find yourself changing lots of things and realising straight off if something's not going to work. Good luck with the next one.

That Delia recipe BodenGroupie posted is delicious. My housemate used to make it for us as a treat when we were student, only decent food I had for weeks !

Thanks Brangelina, maybe a bit of tweaking is in order next time then!

Chocolateteapot, that's the next one I'm going to try I think . . . when I do some shopping