(Photo: TPC's Risotto with Shrimp, Portabellos, Asparagus, Pine Nuts, red peppers, roasted garlic and onions, topped with Peccorino Romano)
I think risotto is one of those comfort meals that can also be really romantic. If you've never made risotto, or worse yet, never had it, you're missing one of life's simple pleasures. As long as you've got the rice for risotto in your pantry (arborio or carnaroli), you can make risotto with whatever else you've got handy. A properly made risotto is soft and creamy, but still with a slight 'tooth' to the rice. It is not sticky and mushy.
(Photo: TPC's Risotto with Shrimp, Portabellos, Asparagus, Pine Nuts, red peppers, roasted garlic and onions, pre-cheese)
There are a few important points to acheiving the proper texture-
• Because risotto rice is so starchy, it must be sauteed in fat briefly so that each kernel is coated with fat. This firms the kernel and will allow the rice to absorb flavors before it starts to break down.
• You need about 4 times as much liquid as rice, and it needs to be hot as it's added.
• Stirring almost constantly is what makes the rice release its starch, which helps it become creamy.
To make my risotto, I used one cup of rice, which is plenty for two. While I was chopping veggies, I roasted a whole head of garlic, toasted 1/4 C of pine nuts and heated a quart of home made chicken stock. Once I was ready, over high heat, I quickly sauteed off the shrimp, portabellos and asparagus in butter, olive oil and lots of fresh chopped garlic, hit it with some white wine and parsley, seasoned them well and removed them from the pan. I heated some more butter and oil and sweated the onions and red bell pepper until they started to soften, then added the rice, stirring to coat the rice well. Don't try to brown the rice, just heat it well and make sure it's coated.
Add a cup of white wine and stir until it's nearly gone (au sec), then add the roasted garlic and some crushed red pepper. Ladle in a cup of hot stock, and stir constantly. When the stock is nearly gone, add another cup. Repeat. When you add your final cup, add the shrimp, asparagus and portabellos, then the pine nuts. Season, remove from the heat and add lots of freshly grated Parmasean, or Peccorino as I did. The risotto should take less than 20 minutes to cook.
Ladle into bowls, and top with more cheese. I like to serve this with a Casear salad. Remind me to post my casear salad dressing one of these days!
Risotto with bacon, caramelized onions, and chopped spinach (all added at the very end) is my favorite. Cooked with chicken broth and a little white wine. Topped with shaved parm. Deeeee-lish.
Oh, I'm gonna make this over the weekend.
Cool, Carin. Let us know how it comes out. It can be a little looser than you see here, I just wanted to stack the rice up a bit for the picture.