I'm usually scared to order risotto at a restaurant. They somehow manage to screw up this incredibly simple dish. Undercooking or overcooking the rice are common. Then there's the folks that feel the need to add cream to give the final dish a creamy texture. That is so wrong.
Of course, my favorite places like Acquerello and Delfina set the standard for risotto. There you will find firm, yet tender kernels of arborio rice, resting in a creamy sauce, full of flavor. The sauce gets its creaminess from the starches that have been coaxed from the rice, the reduction of the stock, and the finishing butter or oils.
Risotto is a super convenient thing to make at home, when you're like me and too lazy to go to the store. We've always keep a box or two of arborio rice on hand, some of those high-tech cartons of stock in the cupboard, and of course some onions and garlic. Bonus points if you have shallots lying around. Some extra virgin olive oil, a little unsalted butter, and a small chunk of parmigiano reggiano. Check.
And if that's all you have, then you're doing just fine. One night after skiing in Tahoe recently, Alex asked what kind of risotto we were having, to which I answered "Risotto-flavored risotto."
If you're making the risotto for a dinner party, you can pause the process after 1-2 rounds of ladling stock into your risotto, before the rice kernels have released much of their starch. Spread the risotto out in a 3/4-inch layer on sheet pans, so it can cool quickly. Put it in the refrigerator on the sheet pans if you have room. Once cooled, the risotto can then be put in a covered container until you're ready to resume the cooking, closer to serving time.
At some point, though, you're going to be needing to add stock and stir, add stock, and stir, you get the idea. For finishing your risotto, remember a few key things:
1. The rice will continue to cook after you plate it, especially if you're plating it into hot bowls, which you should definitely do, to keep it hot. So, you want to serve the risotto a bit more al dente than you want it when you take your first bite at the table. And, you need more liquid in the risotto on plating than you expect on the table, as the rice will continue to absorb liquid as it rests in your pot and then your hot bowls.
2. Finish with some good quality extra virgin olive oil or even better, some unsalted butter. You want the flavors of this fat to come through in your dish, so you want to add these at the very end, even after your cheese.
Using the basic technique in the videos below, you can make all different kinds of risotto. Gain inspiration and ideas from risotto recipes that you see in cooking magazines, and incorporate into this technique. Typically, you'll want to add your extra ingredients once your rice has finished cooking. Think of them more as a fold-in, which should be cooked separately to their own perfection. That's exactly what we do with the butternut squash in this recipe. Roasted till golden brown, already seasoned.
Roasting the Squash, Starting the Risotto
Finishing the Risotto
Recipe here, on Freebase
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