please can someone tell me how I can make a versatile rissoto

[2AdventSevenfoldShoes]

I want to make one over crimbo.
will be my first attempt

Do you want to know about ingredients or actually how to make it?

I love risotto!

Basic risotto- finely chopped onion sauted in olive oil and a knob of butter. Add your rice and cook that with the onion until it starts to 'stick' to the pan (will have browned a little). Add stock/ wine a little at a time and stir intermittently. Add other ingredients depending on how long they take to cook eg the longest first. When rice is tender or still a little al dente, add a large knob of butter and parmesan.

Is that what you mean or do you want ideas of what to put in it?

Shootrudolph is spot on, the addition of loads of fat in the form of butter and parmesan is actually the main thing that makes risotto so lovely.

thanks, so you can use anything in it?

I made a parsnip risotto the other day which was LOVELY (I was suprised)

pancetta also good

and mushroom

versatile?
In what way
Cos I've cooked one that went so bad that when I threw it outside for birds it burned a hole in the grass, in which we found our long lost washing line hole.
That's versatile and meant the whole endeavour was not wasted.
I decided that I loathe risotto now

Anything you like, really. My standard one involves chicken, chorizo, prawns and peas. I use Marigold stock usually. But tonight I also used up half a pot of 'Wild mushroom soup' (fancy-eating supermarket variety)as part of the liquid and it was pretty good (tho' purists will probably tell you this is not risotto...)

Oh, and all that 'stir in the liquid a little at a time' business is rot - I pour it all in, give it a good stir and turn the gas right down, stick a lid on and come back and prod it every few minutes - seems to work out just fine. But as you can tell, I'm not an 'Authentic' cook....

there's a surprisingly nice cauliflower risotto in jamie oliver's italy book. it is as described above, but you cook tiny chopped up cauli in the stock before you add it to the rice, and then you add the cauli towards the end of the process, and lots of parmesan of course. he also gets you to fry a handful of breadcrumbs, a chili and a tin of anchovies in olive oil into a crispy topping, and that's the best bit of all. sounds horrid i know, but i promise it's lovely.

Smoked salmon and asparagus, chicken and mushroom, peppers- pinenuts and butternut squash(was feeling experimental), salmon-prawns and dill (again- was experimenting), salmon and leeks, pancetta, italian sausage and thyme- weird but nice, chicken- pancetta and peas, sundried tomatoes and basil (again a bit odd but tasty... the list goes on and on. I have made a million risottos and apart from my imfamous beetroot and fennel one, they have all been really tasty. Good luck

Sorry, should be 'infamous'... and if you fry pancetta and add it last thing (as you would for carbonara), it's nicer.

leek and mushroom
or saffron (actually my favourite0
Any sort of veg you can find in your fridge, If I just have a few veg I do not know what to do with or do not have enough of to use on their own I will put in a risotto, I have not yet had a combination of veg the family did not like (maybe because I have not yet tried beetroot and fennel) love the idea of sundried tomato and basil, shall be my next risotto!

Nice big juicy prawns in the risotto and then serve with slices of avocado on the side

thanks for all the ideas I will print them off

blue cheese crumbled over the top.

crispy bacon lardons mixed through.

mmmmm