Community Pick
Risotto
"I absolutely love risotto. So my recipes would not be complete with out at least one recipe for risotto. This is the easiest one i've ever made."
photo by Amateur Chef Kate
- Ready In:
- 1hr
- Ingredients:
- 6
- Serves:
-
4-6
ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 5 cups chicken broth (canned or homemade)
- 2 cups arborio rice (available in many supermarkets or specialty food stores)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 3⁄4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
directions
- PREPARING THE RICE.
- Peel and finely chop the onion.
- Melt the butter in a 4-to-5-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring regularly.
- Add the onion and cook, continuing to stir, until it turns soft and translucent.
- Turn the heat down if the onion starts to brown.
- Meanwhile, pour the chicken broth into a separate saucepan, set over medium heat, and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Adjust the heat as needed to maintain this simmer the whole time you are preparing the risotto.
- Once the onion is soft, add the rice and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes.
- Adjust the heat as necessary-- if the rice is cooked at too high a heat, it will turn brown and take on an undesirable flavor.
- ADDING THE LIQUID TO THE RICE.
- Using a ladle, scoop up about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of broth.
- Pour it in the pan with the rice, stirring constantly with a spoon.
- After the first addition of broth, the rice mixture will look a bit soupy.
- As the rice begins to cook, stir it constantly, making sure that you scrape along the bottom of the pan so that it does not stick.
- You should see little bubbles popping up on the liquid from time to time.
- If it bubbles more vigorously than this, turn the heat down to medium-low.
- When most of the liquid is absorbed into the rice and the rice begins to look a bit dry, add another ladle of broth to the pan and stir constantly, as before.
- DETERMINING WHEN THE RISOTTO IS COOKED.
- Continue to add the broth in 1/2-to-3/4-cup batches and stir the rice until you have used most of the broth (this will probably take about 20 minutes).
- It is now time to test whether the risotto is cooked.
- Spoon up a grain of rice and bite into it-- it should be tender without being too mushy.
- If it is still crunchy and tastes a bit starchy, you will need to continue adding liquid and cooking further.
- If it looks as if you will run out of chicken broth and your rice is still not cooked, don't be alarmed.
- Because of variations in individual stoves and cooking temperatures, you may need more liquid than called for in the recipe.
- Simply heat up another cup or 2 of chicken broth.
- If you run out of broth, use hot water.
- When the rice is tender and the risotto has a creamy consistency, almost like thick oatmeal, it is done.
- SERVING THE RISOTTO.
- Add salt and pepper to the risotto, about 1/4 teaspoon at a time, until it seems well seasoned to you.
- Stir.
- Add the grated Parmesan cheese and stir well.
- Serve the risotto immediately in warm bowls and have extra grated Parmesan on hand.
Questions & Replies
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Reviews
-
The texture was perfect but the flavour was a little bit bland. Some herbs and white wine or other additions would help. The directions were excellent. -
I've never made or even had risotto before. This was so good. I used long grain rice, it was all I had, and powdered parmesan cheese, and it turned out great! I appreciated the step by step directions, it made it pretty easy to make! -
Okay, try not to cringe, but I was in a pinch so I made this with Minute Rice. It was fabulous! Big hit with the kids. -
Perfect basic recipe, proportions and technique. Add flavours as you need. Try garlic chives in spring. Mmm -
I have made this recipe quite a few times. It is easy to follow and the end product is always as good as what you would get at a restaurant. You can tweak it many different ways. For example- adding lemon zest or some juice, 2 cloves of garlic, substituting some liquid with white wine, adding veggies (love peas) or meat (just added smoked salmon!). This is now my go to recipe. Easy enough to make for the family even when DH is out of town- NICE!
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Tweaks
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I have made this recipe quite a few times. It is easy to follow and the end product is always as good as what you would get at a restaurant. You can tweak it many different ways. For example- adding lemon zest or some juice, 2 cloves of garlic, substituting some liquid with white wine, adding veggies (love peas) or meat (just added smoked salmon!). This is now my go to recipe. Easy enough to make for the family even when DH is out of town- NICE!
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This was delicious and well worth the time (and stirring). I did replace 1/2 cup of the chicken broth with white wine, for the extra flavor.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I'm currently a cook in Borgata in NJ.
