I love risotto. I could pretend that I consider it a "sometimes food" like cookies are for the Cookie Monster now, but it isn't; I make risotto on a pretty regular basis. I know a lot of people don't make risotto because they feel it's time-consuming (and bad for you), but that's crazy. Delicious risotto is well worth the 30 minutes it takes to make it (and the extra 30 minutes you need to spend at the gym to work it off).
I don't really follow any particular recipe when I make risotto. I tend to look in my fridge and throw in whatever I have on hand. Today, I decided to use some leftover roasted chicken thighs and some dried wild mushrooms. (If I was being really honest, I'd tell you that I decided to make risotto because I wanted to open the bottle of prosecco in my fridge and figured I could use it in the risotto.)
Risotto, while a bit time-consuming, is actually very easy to make. Here are a few tips for making risotto:
1. Any broth/liquid you use should be hot. Heat it up, but don't boil it - or even let it simmer. It should just sit on the stove, nice and hot. Never use cold liquid. Every time you put cold liquid into the risotto, it cools it down and prevents the rice from cooking properly.
Also, it's a good idea to drink a glass of whatever wine you are using in the risotto while you are making it. Wine makes everything better.
2. Don't constantly add liquid to the risotto; make sure most of the liquid is absorbed by the rice before adding another ladleful. It should look like this:
*A note about rice: use a short grained risotto rice like arborio, baldo or carnaroli. It really does make a difference.
3. If you are adding vegetables that cook quickly, like mushrooms or green beans, add them after about 15 minutes of cooking. If you add them earlier, they'll be mushy and no one wants to eat mushy vegetables.
4. Mantecatura is just the fancy Italian way of saying "making it creamy." While rather pretentious sounding in a recipe, it's an important step. Make sure you take the risotto off the heat before you add in the cold butter and parmesan.
Happy risotto making, my lovelies!
Wild Mushroom and Chicken Risotto
Ingredients
1 shallot, diced
1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil (or 2 tbsp of butter)
1/2 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup of white wine (today I used prosecco and it worked out very well)
approximately 2 - 2 1/4 cups of cold water
1/2 oz (approximately 1 cup) of dried wild mushrooms
2 roasted chicken thighs, chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 heaping tablespoon of mascarpone cheese (or 2 tbsp of butter)
4 small sage leaves, chopped (optional)
Instructions
1. Put the dried mushrooms and the cold water in a small saucepan. Let the
mushrooms sit in the water for 20-30 minutes. Most people pour boiling water
over dried mushrooms to revive them. I find that this makes the mushrooms
rubbery so I prefer to let them sit in cold water for a while.
2. Heat the mushroom water but do not let it boil or simmer.
3. Heat a pan at low-medium heat and add the butter and olive oil. Add the shallot and
cook until tender.
4. Add the rice and toast it for a minute or two.
5. Add the wine and begin your stirring. Stir the rice constantly until the wine is
absorbed.
6. Once the rice has absorbed the wine, add a ladleful of the hot mushroom water (it
has so much flavour!) Stir constantly until the water is absorbed and continue to
add the liquid, one ladleful a time.
7. After about 15 minutes of adding liquid and stirring, add the mushrooms and chicken
8. Continue to add hot liquid for another 5 minutes or so. At this point, start tasting the
risotto every 30 seconds. Risotto should be al dente. Once it reaches that point,
take the risotto off the heat and cover it for 1 minute.
9. Add the sage and the parmesan and mascarpone cheeses and stir them into the
risotto until they are fully incorporated. Cover the risotto again and let it sit for 5
minutes.
10. Serve the risotto with some black pepper or shaved parmesan cheese. Personally,
I like a bit of black pepper and a bunch of arugula on top. Enjoy!
