I am going to make Risoto tonight. Any advice I should know before trying?

Question

I want to make mushroom rissoto. I am going to buy one of those specialty packs of rice risoto to start, but I do want to stir stir stir to get a true creamy/starchy consistency. I am not very good at cooking rice -- thought rissoto might be easier. Tips?

Answer 1

Its not too hard, just make sure to be patient. fry your onions in oil and butter and then once softened add you rice to the pan stiring for abour 2 minutes.  Then SLOWLY add the stop just add bit by bit till it is all absorbed. Good Luck!  

Answer 2

The creamy texture comes from the rice... it's starchier than regular long-grain.  Also, the near-constant stirring makes it creamy.

I have perfected mushroom risotto, and here is my recipe.  Hoe it helps, or at least gives you a launching pad from which to experiment.

Sugar Pie’s MUSHROOM RISOTTO

5 cups chicken broth

1 cup white wine

3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

1 onion, diced

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp dry thyme

2 Tbsp. fresh Italian parsley, chopped

2 Tbsp. butter

½ tsp. kosher salt

Few twists black pepper

2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

5-8 slices proscuitto, chopped (optional)

Fresh Italian parsley, for garnish

Heat the chicken broth and wine in a medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat.

Heat 2 Tbsp. of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes.  Add garlic, and cook about 2 minutes more. Add the fresh mushrooms, herbs and butter. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes until lightly browned, season with salt and pepper. Remove onions and mushrooms from pan and reserve.

Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil. Add the rice and stir quickly until it is well-coated and opaque, about 2 minutes. This step cooks the starchy coating and prevents the grains from sticking.

With a ladle, add 1 cup of the warm broth and wine mixture and cook the rice, stirring, until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Add the remaining broth, 1 cup at a time. Continue to cook and stir, allowing the rice to absorb each addition of broth before adding more. The risotto should be slightly firm and creamy, not mushy. Transfer the mushrooms to the rice mixture. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese and proscuitto.  Top with chopped parsley before serving.

Answer 3

I think risotto is harder than normal rice to make.  Just keep the temp low and keep stirring and add your stock or wine very slowly, like 1 cup at a time.  Once the stock is absorbed add some more.

Answer 4

Don't wash the rice before adding it, or you'll lose the precious starch coating the rice grains.

For the best saffron flavor, toast the saffron threads in a small saucepan for a minute over medium heat before crumbling them and adding them to the broth. Don't use powdered saffron, as the real, expensive saffron is often mixed with cheaper yellow spice powders, such as turmeric or safflower.

Try replacing 1/2 to 1 cup of the broth in the recipe with dry white wine for a more complex flavor. Use a good-quality wine; never cook with anything you wouldn't drink.

This recipe makes a type of risotto from Northern Italy called "risotto alla Milanese," traditionally served as a side dish alongside a braised veal dish called "osso buco." You can easily adapt the basic recipe to create a different kind of risotto. Here are a few suggestions:

For "risotto alla primavera," leave out the saffron threads, and add a cup of mixed vegetables towards the end of the cooking time--shelled peas, diced zucchini, chopped asparagus spears, or chopped fresh artichoke hearts all make nice additions. Add some chopped fresh basil, grated lemon zest, and/or fresh lemon juice when the risotto has finished cooking.

For "risotto alla zucca," peel, deseed, and chop a small winter squash such as butternut or acorn squash, add the pieces of squash to the onions in Step 1, season with about 1/4 teaspoon powdered or freshly grated nutmeg and about 1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon, and saute until the pieces of squash are tender before adding the rice. Some of the pieces of squash will fall apart completely, so the finished risotto will be lush and sweet and a beautiful golden or orange color. Leave out the saffron threads from the recipe.

For "risotto ai funghi," leave out the saffron threads, and while the risotto is cooking, saute some chopped wild mushrooms in butter in a separate pan over medium-high heat until they are browned and any liquid put out by the mushrooms has evaporated. Stir in the mushrooms when the risotto is done, and season with about 1/4 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme. If you have access to truffles, drizzle the risotto with black or white truffle oil when it's done, or shave some fresh truffle over the top. (Italians also store their dry superfino rice with truffles so it will absorb the truffle flavor.)

Don't be afraid to stir in that last pat of butter when the risotto is done. This is a traditional step in making risotto, called "mantecare," and it really makes the risotto taste rich and delicious!

It's worth shelling out for a piece of real Italian Parmesan cheese labeled "aged Parmigiano-Reggiano." Less expensive hard cheeses called Romano or Grana Padano are often sold as Parmesan in this country, but they don't have the same complex flavor as real Parmesan cheese.

Answer 5

buy trader joe's mushroom risotto and follow the directions. Easy. Yummy.

Answer 6

Carnaroli is considered the best rice for risotto in Italy with Arborio also good.

As was said by the first responder, do NOT wash the rice first as you would normally do.

I think the rest of the advice in the other responses is also very good.

And, yes, just keep stirring regularly and topping up the liquid until the rice gets to the stage you want it to be.

You can make the process very complicated if you want to get all Foodie, but my experience is that you can get a perfectly delicious risotto by simply frying some onions in an olive oil and butter, tossing in the rice and stirring for a couple minutes (pan still on heat) to coat the grains, adding some wine and cooking that down while stirring, then starting to add stock and continuing to cook and stir until done. Adding other ingredients is a matter of judgment and common sense. Don't put in fairly delicate things at the start (e.g. sautéed mushrooms) because they'll fall apart during all the stirring, but you can add tougher stuff (e.g. cooked chicken) a bit earlier in the process.

Be a bit cautious with the seasoning until late in the process. The stock will have a lot of salt in it, so there's probably no need to add much of that.

When you've done it once, you'll have a good feel for the quantities involved and you can wing it. Nothing too bad is likely to happen in you improvise so long as you don't add too much liquid to the rice at one time. Even then, the worst that's going to happen is that your rice might be a bit-overdone due to you having to boil it a little too long in order to reduce the stock.

At the end, when the rice is al dente (or whatever degree of doneness you prefer), stir in a generous portion of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve while still hot. Bellissimo! Buon appetito!

Answer 7

For starters use aborio rice it is the best for risotto, it absorbs the stock better. make sure you have more stock then rice, keep a good eye on it so it doesn't burn and get stuck to the bottom of the saucepan. What are your main ingredients that you plan to use?

for chicken use chicken stock, if vegetable based use veggie stock, if seafood use fish stock, beef stock for red meat. season to taste, once the rice has absorbs the liquid taste it to see if the rice is soft. and check seasoning.