Risotto, one of the most traditional Italian recipes and one of the most delicate and delicious, guaranteed to impress even the most demanding palates.
With this easy recipe, you are guaranteed to satisfy guests of every age.
My husband’s very favourite dish is pumpkin risotto but you can make risotto so many different ways.
Sausage risotto, porcini mushroom risotto, shrimps and zucchini risotto, risotto with fish and so on, just to mention a few. There are infinite ways to make this exquisite dish.
Like every recipe I write, I have discovered a few secrets to make a stunning Risotto! Differently from my other self-taught recipes,
I have discovered the perfect procedure from one of my closest friends which is a chef!
First of all the broth! If you have time you should make your own.
There is no comparison between a homemade broth and a powdered or store-bought one.
Depending on your recipe, you can make meat, vegetable or fish broth to cook your risotto.
This recipe is for Pumpkin Risotto, so you can use vegetable broth.
I know this is not pumpkin season but I’ve bought squash at the supermarket and made this amazing risotto with it.
Yes, you can substitute pumpkin with squash but if you don’t find squash, you can use zucchini or any other vegetable of your choice.
For the vegetable broth
1 yellow onion
2 pieces of celery
2 carrots
A Bunch of Parsley
Salt to taste
Prepare your broth the night before by cutting the vegetables into big chunks and letting them boil for about 2 hours and a half, adjust with salt.
Let the broth cool down and then store in the fridge for the day after.
For the risotto
Half a Pumpkin or squash (depending on the size)
1/4 cup white dry wine
1 Onion
Parsley
Vegetable broth
2-3 tablespoons Butter or to taste
Extra Virgin olive oil
Risotto rice
Grated Parmigiano cheese
Prepare your squash or pumpkin, cut the skin and set aside.
Prepare your onion and fry it with a little bit of oil, add the pumpkin and fry it, cook on a low heat until tender. Add some parsley.
Prepare your rice. Keep in mind that the brand you use will definitely make a difference. I always use Italian brands, since risotto is an Italian recipe. I try using different brands occasionally when my favourite brands weren’t available and the result was ok, however, I could taste the difference in the consistency of the rice.
For the doses that is how I calculate. 1 glass corresponds to two portions of rice. If you eat a lot add another half a glass to it and you will have big portions. It might seem little to you but trust me the grains are going to expand and make your dishes full.
The pot/pan is also really important, it has to be wide and the right size for the amount of rice that you want to cook.
Heat some oil in the pan and add the rice. This passage is really important to make sure that your grains will be stronger and not break or lose consistency during the cooking process.
Be careful not to let the rice burn during this process.
Increase the heat and add the wine. Your question might come now, can you add wine even if you have kids and pregnant women at lunch?
When you cook the rice the wine will evaporate, so it’s very important that before adding any broth you let all the wine evaporate. If you have these kinds of guests, then diminish the quantity of wine. When the rice will cook, the wine percentage will be almost inexistent, as long as you have done this passage correctly.
Once the wine has completely evaporated
Start adding the broth one cup at a time.
Make sure you have your broth prepared and heated. It’s very important that you reheat your broth which you will have to constantly add to the rice. If the broth is cold it will change your cooking temperature and slow down your cooking process.
A very important thing about this kind of rice dish is that you have to continually stir the rice.
I remember when I started cooking other kinds of rice I thought the procedure was the same. Wrong! While you will just let basmati or jasmine rice cook on its own, without stirring, you have to keep stirring risotto!
It’s also very important that you don’t add your broth all at once but cup after cup.
After 5 minutes add your pumpkin and stir.
I like my pumpkin to melt a little and form a nice sauce, but if you like to have bigger chunks just add your pumpkin after 10 minutes of cooking the rice.
Cook the rice for about 20’ or until ready (try and check when tendering)
Here comes the secret! Butter. I never used to put butter in my risotto until one night, my friend, who is a chef, invited us to eat at his house.
Sneaking to the kitchen I quickly discover that butter is indeed one of the secrets.
I put as an approximate measure two to three tablespoons but you will need to taste your rice and add or subtract according to your preference! Turn the heat off and add your butter and your grated Parmigiano cheese.
Et voilá, you are guaranteed to impress your guests with this restaurant dish! Risotto is so simple that everyone pretty much loves it!
I love the fact that Risotto is so versatile! It can be so simple as oil-butter and sage Risotto (called "in bianco") or a delicious Risotto Alla Milanese dish, with tasty Saffron but even difficult and challenging recipes.
Let it rest for a few minutes and serve on a plate.
Storage: you can store your rice in the fridge for maximum one day, I don’t advise to keep it more than 24 hours. The day after it definitely won’t taste the same but it will still be good
I don’t advise you to store it in the freezer, even if it’s possible.
I would love to know your opinion about this recipe if you've tried to make it yourself! Feel free to leave a comment down below and let me know how it turned out!
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