Recipe: Risotto

Risotto is a real classic - creamy, rich and satisfying in so many ways.  Since rice is so neutral, it lends itself to endless options as far as garnishes go.  I'm going to give you a basic recipe and leave the garnish up to you.  With garnishes, just remember they need to be cared for just as much as the rice - many commercial operations prepare both separately to maintain control and bring them together as the dish gets heated at service (few places are making your risotto from scratch after you order it).  A lobster risotto will have the lobster mixed in later in the process to avoid over cooking, but a mushroom risotto is a little more forgiving since the mushrooms can handle more time on the heat.  

Try to think about the final dish and without making it over complex, incorporate that theme wherever possible.  We used to do a mushroom risotto where we used mushroom stock in the preparation, seasoning it with porcini powder, then garnishing it with sauteed wild mushrooms and truffle oil.  The dish incorporated mushrooms wherever possible, but didn't clutter the picture with other flavours and the result was a complex yet unmistakable ode to mushrooms.

By giving you a purist recipe, I hope to let you use your imagination the rest of the way.  If you want to use chicken stock, by all means, but in this recipe water is all you need.  A good risotto is all in the preparation and the seasoning, not the chicken.  Some cooks add cream, but I don't - it's kind of cheating.  If you prep ahead of time, just remember to cut short your cooking so you don't overdo it at mealtime.  You want the dish to flow as a single mass with each grain of rice retaining some firmness in it's grain - al dente.  If you are so inclined, finishing it off with a bit more butter is always welcome, but do it off the heat so it doesn't split.  A small squeeze of lemon juice at the end balances the richness well too.

You will need:

500g                       arborio rice

150g                       butter

1                             small white onion - finely diced

1.5L (give or take) water (warm)

1                             bay leaf

2 sprigs                   thyme

to taste                    kosher salt

to taste                    pepper 

Method:

 - dice the onion very fine - smaller than the grains of rice if you can

 - warm the water up on the stove (warmed up cold water tastes better than hot tap water)

 - sweat the onion off well in the butter

 - add the rice and sweat, stirring constantly

 - season the rice minimally - most seasoning comes at the end

 - add the herbs

 - slowly add the water, letting it get absorbed with each addition 

 - taste the grains of rice as you go to judge the speed of the cooking

 - if you will finish cooking later, turn off the heat while the rice is still undercooked and the risotto is very liquid 

 - spread the rice out on a sheet pan to cool - don't lose any of the starchy liquid

Finishing:

 - remove the herbs from the preparation stage - add fresh at the end if you like

 - put the cooled rice and congealed liquid back in the pot, add some water and slowly heat up

 - depending on your garnish, think about adding it in now to infuse the flavour

 - just like preparation, add water as needed and keep cooking

 - as you get close to cooked - decide how loose you want the final product to be - add water accordingly

 - finish seasoning

 - when rice is cooked, turn off the heat and add butter, a squeeze of lemon, and any fresh herbs or delicate garnishes still to come

 - mix well and serve