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Proper Risotto is a classic recipe. Homemade risotto - a taste of Italy with your own hands

The amazing velvety taste and delicate texture of a rice dish cooked truly in Italian - this is what the chefs offer us, sharing their cooking secrets and recipes for classic risotto. This article will tell you about the best traditional versions of the dish.

A little history

There are many legends and speculations regarding in which city, how and when risotto was first prepared, which has captivated all the world's gourmets. His is considered to be a native Italian dish, but historians claim that the roots come from Arab cuisine and date back to the 11th-12th centuries.

Today it is difficult to get to the bottom of the truth, but if you adhere to the opinion of the majority of culinary specialists, then the first variation of the dish arose completely by accident... An allegedly forgetful cook put rice soup on the stove, and having been distracted for a while, he did not notice how all the water had boiled away, and the vegetables were filled with the aroma of spices and vegetables.

Over time, in 1570, the famous culinary guru Bartolomeo Scappi wrote down more than 1000 original recipes for making risotto in his cookbook!

The history of the popular yellow risotto is no less interesting. A Milanese legend says that the apprentice painting the Duomo always added saffron to his paints. At the wedding of his master's daughter, he played a prank on the guests and added saffron to the rice dish.

All those present were at first frightened by the unnatural color of the rice, but after trying it, they came to the conclusion that this the most delicious thing they've ever tasted.

Selecting Tools and Ingredients

This dish is quite difficult to prepare even for masters who know a lot about their craft. For cooking A heavy cast iron skillet is best, a container for decoction of vegetable broth and a ceramic spatula for stirring all ingredients.

Cast iron heats up perfectly and gives off heat well, allowing rice not just to fry, but to simmer without releasing its beneficial substances and charming aroma.

As you can see, no special tools required. In most cases, what you need is found in the kitchen of a modern housewife.

The main ingredient of any risotto is rice. The secrets of his choice are simple. Perfect round grain variety rich in starch, since it is this that contributes to the velvety texture of the dish.

It is worth paying attention to the varieties Vialone Nano, Arborio or Carnaroli This is the perfect rice for risotto. If they are not available, any other round grain rice will do just fine.

Options

There are thousands of variations of this dish, and each of them requires its own special ingredients. Let's consider the most popular recipes that have found recognition in all countries of the world and won the hearts of culinary masters.

With seafood - “Marinara”

This dish requires the following ingredients to prepare:

rice 100g;
extra virgin olive oil 20g;
squid 50 gr.;
boiled octopus 50 gr.;
mussels 120 gr.;
sea cockerels 100 gr.;
fish broth;
selected shrimp (without heads) 13-15 pieces;
tomato sauce 15g;
dry white wine 40 ml;
parsley;
salt and pepper to taste.

To start fry until golden brown all available seafood along with herbs in heated olive oil. Add rice and sauté over low heat for two minutes.

After pour in the wine and wait until it evaporates. Pour in the fish broth little by little and then add the tomato sauce.

The rice is brought to full readiness, and then laid out on a plate and generously decorated with any seafood and herbs. Shrimp or clams are best for garnishing marinara.

How to cook risotto at home with seafood (shrimp, mussels, squid) in cream sauce - watch the recipe in the video:

With cheese and mushrooms

According to the recipe for another popular version of risotto - with cheese and porcini mushrooms or champignons - You will need the following ingredients (for 1 serving):

rice 100g;
onion 15g;
parmesan 30 gr.;
extra virgin olive oil 20g;
butter 10g;
a little mushroom broth;
mushrooms 100g. (white ones are best, but champignons or chanterelles will also work);
a bunch of parsley;
a few tablespoons of cognac;
salt and pepper to taste.

First, fry the mushrooms in hot olive oil, add the onions, and after a few minutes add the rice itself. Sauteing all ingredients should take no more than 3-4 minutes.

After removing from heat, sprinkle the dish with grated cheese and add a piece of butter. Place the mushroom risotto beautifully on a plate and garnish with finely chopped herbs.

How to properly prepare a delicious risotto with mushrooms and cheese at home according to another recipe - watch the video:

Find out also the most popular ones: you will have something to please your guests!

You will find recipes for making delicious lasagna in this one.

Do you know how to make Italian cheese yourself? Find out how to do this with this recipe for making mozzarella at home:

With minced meat

For this dish you will need:

rice 130 g (preferably arborio);
red onion 1 pc.;
bell pepper (multi-colored, half red and half green);
minced beef 350 gr.;
1 large carrot;
1 tsp tomato paste + 1 tomato;
butter and olive oil for frying;
grated parmesan to taste;
chicken broth 500-600 ml;
salt and pepper.

You can complement the dish with a small amount of dry red wine.

Cut the vegetables into small cubes, pour them into a preheated frying pan and fry over low heat for no more than 3-4 minutes. After a golden crust appears, add the minced meat to the vegetables and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Then add chicken broth. After the broth has evaporated, pour in a little wine and let it evaporate. Add tomato sauce, pepper and salt to taste. Everything should cook together for about 10 minutes., and then feel free to add rice and cook until al dente.

After removing the dish from the heat, sprinkle everything with Parmesan and fresh herbs, add butter and serve.

How to serve it correctly?

The most popular way to serve risotto, which can be found in all restaurants, is to spread it small round mound on a plate and decoration with Parmesan, herbs, etc.

This is a very satisfying dish, especially when it comes to risotto with seafood, meat, and mushrooms. That's why serve it in small portions, carefully placing it on a large round plate.

To prevent the “slide” from falling apart, use special split molds for serving(they can be replaced with small deep bowls or bowls), where the dish is initially placed, and then placed on a plate and the mold is carefully removed. After this, all that remains is to correct the edges and decorate the culinary masterpiece.

To make risotto look more appetizing, in addition to decorating with grated Parmesan and herbs, you can use fried slices of mushrooms, clams or mussels.

Remember that risotto should be served immediately after cooking. This dish is not served cold!

Best to use parmesan cheese or grana padano, but if this is not available at hand, then the choice must be made on hard varieties of cheese, for example emmental;

After cooking you should add a little butter to the dish which will make it more appetizing and juicy.

By following these simple tips, you will prepare an unusually tasty dish at home. And you shouldn’t rush: risotto can't be rushed! Don’t try to “rush” it by turning up the heat under the frying pan. Only strict adherence to all stages of preparation will give the desired result.

In contact with

There is only one rice, but hundreds of dishes can be prepared from it. Along with porridge and pilaf, the Italian dish risotto is very popular. Not only the name is charming, but also the taste.

Despite the use of simple and affordable ingredients, the food turns out very worthy and is easy to prepare at home. Let's set up an Italian restaurant in the kitchen?

Homemade risotto - general cooking principles

It is better to use large and round rice for risotto. It's perfect for this dish. The cereal must be washed and all the liquid drained. In classic recipes, after this you need to fry it in a frying pan with butter and some vegetables. But there are dishes in which this step is skipped.

What else is added to risotto:

Vegetables. They can be very different: tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, eggplants. Some of them are pre-fried.

Fish, seafood. A very popular addition, rice goes well with these foods.

Meat, poultry. The dish with these additives is somewhat reminiscent of pilaf, but it turns out juicier and not so crumbly.

Wine. Dry white wine is added to the classic recipe, but this step can also be omitted if necessary.

Spices, herbs. They can be added during the cooking process, but some of them are placed directly on plates when serving. Provencal herbs and a mixture of peppers are ideal for risotto.

For cooking, you can use a deep frying pan or saucepan. The cooked risotto is laid out in portions and immediately sprinkled with Parmesan, supplemented with fresh parsley or other herbs.

How to cook risotto at home with mushrooms

A common, simple recipe for homemade risotto, which does not require much time to prepare, but will delight you with taste.

Ingredients

1 tbsp. round rice;

300 g mushrooms;

1 spoon oil (olive);

4 cups broth (chicken, beef, vegetable);

40 g drained butter;

4 tablespoons grated parmesan;

1 onion;

2 cloves of garlic;

50 ml white wine.

Preparation

1. Wash the round coarse rice and leave the water to drain in a sieve or colander with small holes.

2. Slice the mushrooms. Place in a frying pan with 20 grams of butter and fry a little, then remove from the frying pan.

3. Add chopped onion, a spoonful of olive oil to the frying pan and fry for a couple of minutes.

4. Add chopped garlic, followed by the remaining butter and add the washed rice. Fry the cereal for a couple of minutes along with the onion.

5. Pour in the wine. We wait. While it evaporates, add 0.5 cups of salted broth.

6. As soon as the broth has evaporated. Stir and pour in 0.5 cups again. And so on until the rice becomes soft.

7. Return the mushrooms to the frying pan, stir, pour in a little broth, literally a few spoons, add spices to taste and cook the risotto for 5 minutes under the lid on the lowest heat.

8. When serving, sprinkle the dish with Parmesan and fresh parsley.

Homemade risotto with vegetables

Homemade vegetable risotto recipe. Instead of zucchini, you can use regular zucchini, but they must be young and without seeds.

Ingredients

1.5 tbsp. rice;

2 onions;

1 carrot;

1 zucchini;

50 g butter;

1 tbsp. frozen peas;

50 g parmesan;

2 tablespoons olive oil;

0.5 glasses of wine;

2 cloves of garlic;

Parsley;

1 liter of broth.

Preparation

1. Cut the onion into cubes and carrots into the same cubes, fry in olive oil, the heat is slightly above medium.

2. Add washed rice and half the butter, fry the cereal until it turns yellowish. Stir so that it does not form lumps.

3. Place the remaining oil in the second frying pan. Fry the diced zucchini.

4. Pour wine into the rice and let the drink evaporate.

5. Add frozen green peas. If you don’t have it, you can take a canned product, but then pour it out at the end of cooking to keep its shape.

6. Take vegetable or any other broth, pepper and salt, add 150 ml to the rice every 3 minutes.

7. At the end, add zucchini and crushed garlic, pepper, mix.

8. Cover, let the ingredients combine flavors and you’re done. When serving, sprinkle the vegetable risotto with grated cheese and garnish with parsley sprigs.

How to make risotto at home with chicken

Rice with chicken is not always pilaf. There are no less interesting dishes from this combination. So how to make risotto at home?

Ingredients

400 g chicken fillet;

0.5 glasses of wine;

1 large carrot;

Olive oil;

1.5 tbsp. round rice;

70 g parmesan;

2 cloves of garlic;

1 tsp. Italian herbs.

Preparation

1. Cut the carrots into strips. Pour in 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil, add the carrots and fry until golden brown. Place the garlic cloves nearby and fry them too, but at the end they need to be removed.

2. Cut the chicken fillet into cubes, but not finely, otherwise it will turn out dry. Fry with carrots for a couple of minutes and pour in white wine. Steam for a couple of minutes.

3. Add the rice, cook for another three minutes, stir and begin to pour in the broth, but in small portions of 120-130 ml every 3 minutes. The broth should be salted.

4. Season the risotto with dried herbs, mix well, and pepper to taste. If necessary, add some salt.

5. Cover and leave for fifteen minutes.

6. Place on plates. We complement the risotto with Parmesan, fresh vegetables and herbs.

Homemade risotto with shrimp

This dish is very popular in Italy, as are many other seafood dishes. The technology for preparing homemade squid risotto is similar.

Ingredients

200 g shrimp (peeled);

1.5 tbsp. rice;

2 onions;

0.5 lemon;

1 clove of garlic;

10 olives;

3 tablespoons grated parmesan;

Spices, olive oil;

0.5 glasses of wine.

Preparation

1. Pour 4 tablespoons of olive oil into a frying pan. We put it on fire. Crush the garlic clove and fry until the oil gets the aroma.

2. Remove the garlic, add the chopped onion and fry for a minute.

3. Next add rice, after two minutes of frying together, pour in white wine. Let it evaporate.

4. Gradually pour in salted broth with herbs, about 100 ml each. Let the moisture evaporate until the rice is cooked through.

5. In another frying pan, heat a spoonful of oil, lay out the peeled shrimp, fry for a minute and pour over a squeeze of lemon.

6. Transfer the shrimp to the finished rice and mix well.

7. Cover the frying pan and simmer for a couple of minutes. Let it stand for ten minutes.

8. Place on a plate, sprinkle with chopped olives and Parmesan, serve with parsley and lettuce.

How to make risotto at home with salmon

To prepare this risotto, you can use any red fish; almost all types are suitable. Additionally you will need cream, fat content above 15%.

Ingredients

200 g salmon;

1 onion;

1 tbsp. rice;

50 ml wine;

500 ml broth;

40 g canned peas;

2 tablespoons grated parmesan;

1 clove of garlic;

0.5 lemon;

100 ml cream;

Preparation

1. Cut the salmon into cubes, sprinkle with lemon juice, and leave to marinate for ten minutes.

2. Meanwhile, fry the onion and garlic in oil. Then remove the garlic clove, add the washed rice, and continue to fry with it. Pour in the wine, stir and heat for a minute.

3. Fry the salmon for a couple of minutes in another frying pan with a few drops of oil.

4. Heat the broth, season it with spices, pour in the rice as soon as all the wine has evaporated from it. Evaporate the broth.

5. Place the fried pieces of fish in a dish, stir, add green peas.

6. Immediately pour in the cream, simmer the risotto on the fire for a couple of minutes so that some of the moisture is absorbed.

7. Taste it, add spices to the dish, and garnish with dill and parmesan when serving.

How to cook risotto at home with mussels

This dish can often be found in Italian restaurants, but mussel risotto is easy to prepare at home.

Ingredients

200 g rice;

250 g mussels;

30 g drained butter;

100 g onion;

3 cloves of garlic;

150 ml dry white wine;

50 g parmesan;

600 g fish broth;

Preparation

1. Place the oil in a saucepan, heat it up and add the peeled garlic cloves. Fry for a couple of minutes until golden brown. We take it out and throw it away.

2. Add the onion cut into small cubes and also fry with oil.

3. Add washed rice, fry with onions for five minutes and pour wine into it. Evaporate.

4. Dilute the salt in the fish broth, you can add other spices and dried herbs.

5. Pour half the broth over the rice and simmer without a lid. Then add the second part that remains.

6. Place prepared mussels on top of the rice. Now you don't need to stir. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 5-7 minutes.

7. Now you can stir the risotto and place it on plates.

8. We also serve this dish with Parmesan, like other types. Add some greenery.

Homemade risotto - useful tips and tricks

If there is no Parmesan, you can use any other types of hard cheese, for example, Dutch, Russian. An important condition is the ability of the product to melt; it should soften on a hot dish.

Risotto will be tastier if the rice is fried in butter or ghee and only then combined with the rest of the ingredients of the dish.

No broth? Of course, you can use plain water, but it is better to dilute spices or bouillon cubes in it. You can use chopped dry mushrooms.

There are several versions of the origin of risotto. It is not known for certain who and when the recipe was invented. It is generally accepted that risotto originated in northern Italy.

Many restaurants around the world offer a classic risotto recipe with chicken, seafood, vegetables or mushrooms on their menu. The simplicity of the technique and available ingredients allow you to prepare haute cuisine at home.

Risotto looks festive and can decorate not only an everyday dinner table, but also become the highlight of a holiday menu. Risotto can be not only a classic one with chicken, but also a lean, vegan dish with vegetables.

Vialone, carnaroli and arborio are suitable for preparing risotto. These three types of rice contain a lot of starch. It is better to use olive oil during cooking.

The classic and most popular recipe is chicken risotto. In order for the risotto to acquire the desired structure, the rice must be stirred periodically during cooking.

This simple recipe can be prepared every day for lunch or served on a holiday table.

Ingredients:

400 gr. chicken meat;
200 gr. rice;
1 liter of water;
50 gr. parmesan cheese;
2 onions;
1 carrot;
100 gr. celery root;
1 bell pepper;
30 gr. butter;
90 ml dry white wine;
1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
saffron;
Bay leaf;
salt;
pepper.

Preparation:

Prepare the broth. Place chicken meat, previously stripped of film, into the water. Add bay leaf, onion, carrots and spices. Cook the broth for 35-40 minutes. Then remove the meat, add salt to the broth and cook for a few minutes under the lid.
Cut the meat into medium pieces.
Pour the broth over the saffron.
In a hot frying pan, combine butter and vegetable oil.
Place finely chopped onion in the pan and fry until translucent, do not fry.
Do not rinse rice before cooking. Pour the cereal into the pan.
Fry the rice until it has absorbed all the oil.
Pour in the wine.
When the wine is absorbed, pour in a cup of broth. Wait until the liquid is completely absorbed. Gradually add the remaining broth to the rice.
After 15 minutes, add the meat to the rice. Strain the saffron through cheesecloth and pour the broth into the rice.
When the rice reaches the desired consistency - hard on the inside and soft on the outside, add salt to taste and add grated cheese. Place small pieces of butter on the surface of the risotto.
Serve the dish hot so that the cheese does not have time to harden.

Risotto with mushrooms and chicken

This is a common way to prepare risotto. The harmonious combination of chicken and mushroom flavors gives the rice a delicate, spicy aroma. The dish can be prepared with any mushrooms and served for lunch or a holiday table.

Ingredients:

300 gr. chicken fillet;
200 gr. mushrooms;
1 cup rice;
4 cups broth;
1-2 tbsp. l. dry white wine;
2 tbsp. l. butter;
1 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
2 onions;
100-150 gr. parmesan cheese;
salt;
pepper;
parsley.

Preparation:

Melt the butter in a cauldron or deep frying pan.
Cut the mushrooms into small pieces. Cut the fillet into slices or separate it into fibers with your hands.
Fry the mushrooms in a frying pan until golden brown. Add the chicken to the mushrooms and fry for 15 minutes.
Place the chicken and mushrooms in a separate container. Pour vegetable oil into the pan.
Fry the onion in vegetable oil for 5 minutes.
Pour rice into the pan, fry for 5-7 minutes, mix thoroughly.
Add dry wine and salt, simmer until the liquid evaporates.
Pour a cup of broth into the pan. Wait for the liquid to be absorbed.
Continue adding broth little by little.
After 30 minutes of cooking the rice, transfer the meat and mushrooms to the frying pan and mix the ingredients. Sprinkle risotto with grated cheese.
Decorate the finished dish with herbs.

This is a popular recipe for rice with vegetables among lovers of light, vegetarian cuisine. To prepare the lean version, vegetable oil is not used, and lean cheese is added, during the preparation of which no rennet of animal origin was used. For the vegetarian option, vegetable oil and water are used.

Cooking time: 1 hour.

Ingredients:

1.25 liters chicken broth or water;
1.5 cups rice;
2 stalks of celery;
2 tomatoes;
1 sweet pepper;
200 gr. zucchini or zucchini;
200 gr. leek;
dill and parsley;
4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
half a glass of grated cheese;
salt;
pepper;
Italian herbs.

Preparation:

Pour over the tomatoes first with boiling water and then with ice water. Remove the skin.
Cut the vegetables into equal-sized cubes.
Place a frying pan on the stove, pour in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Place celery and bell pepper in the pan. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the squash or zucchini and sauté.
Place the tomatoes in the pan and simmer with Italian herbs and pepper for 5-7 minutes.
In a second frying pan, saute the leeks for 2-3 minutes. Add rice and fry for 3-4 minutes.
Pour 1 cup of broth over the rice. Cook over low heat, stirring. When the liquid has evaporated, add another half cup of broth. Repeat the process 2 times.
Add stewed vegetables to the rice, pour in the last portion of broth, add salt to taste, add pepper and simmer until the liquid is completely absorbed.
Chop the greens.
Grate the cheese.
Sprinkle hot risotto with herbs and cheese.

Ingredients:

250 gr. rice;
250 gr. seafood to your taste;
2 cloves of garlic;
350 ml tomatoes, canned in their own juice;
800-850 ml water;
1 onion;
4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil;
parsley;
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:

Peel and cut the onion into cubes, chop the garlic with a knife.
Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and fry the onion until translucent.
Fry the garlic for 25-30 seconds along with the onion.
Place seafood in a frying pan and fry until half cooked.
Add rice to the pan. Mix the ingredients and fry the rice until translucent.
Place tomato sauce in the pan. Pour in a cup of water and cook the rice until the liquid evaporates. Gradually add water. Cook Italian risotto until al dente, 25 to 30 minutes.
Salt and pepper the risotto at the end, before the last addition of water.
Chop the parsley and sprinkle on the finished hot dish.

Risotto cooked in creamy sauce is a soft, tender dish. Porcini mushrooms, subtle creamy aroma and delicate structure of rice will make it a decoration for any table. Risotto cooks quickly; you can surprise unexpected guests with it, preparing an exquisite dish in a hurry.

Cooking time – 40 minutes.

Ingredients:

500 ml chicken broth;
150 gr. rice;
50 gr. porcini mushrooms;
150 ml cream;
100 gr. hard cheese;
20 gr. butter;
20 gr. vegetable oil;
salt to taste.

Preparation:

Place a pot of broth on the stove and bring to a boil.
Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and fry the rice until golden brown.
Add a cup of broth to the rice and simmer until the liquid evaporates. Add broth as it evaporates. Cook rice this way for 30 minutes.
Fry porcini mushrooms in vegetable oil.
Add butter to mushrooms. Wait for the mushrooms to brown and pour in the cream.
Grate the cheese. Mix the cheese and mushrooms and cook the creamy sauce until it reaches the consistency of low-fat sour cream.
Combine the ingredients, mix and add salt to taste.
Simmer the risotto for 5-7 minutes.

What is risotto and how to prepare it

This popular and tasty rice dish came to us from Italy and has firmly taken its place in many cuisines around the world. For risotto, short-grain rice with a high starch content is used. Suitable varieties include Arborio, Padano, Baldo, Maratelli, Vialone Nano or Carnaroli. The last three varieties are considered ideal for risotto and the most expensive.

In appearance, it is something between a soup and liquid porridge; it tastes different from traditional pilaf, although the cooking processes are similar. Cooking rice releases starch, which gives the finished dish a delicate, creamy consistency. There are many recipes for this dish; learning how to cook it is not so difficult, you just have to want it. Risotto with vegetables, seafood, meat, chicken, fish or dried fruits is a unique dish in that it can be prepared to suit every taste by changing the auxiliary ingredients.

There is one secret to cooking rice for risotto, which is to bring it to readiness gradually. You cannot cook rice in boiling water; it must be simmered, adding liquid as needed. It has been proven that when rice cereal is cooked in a large amount of water, the beneficial properties remain in the liquid, and when simmering, all proteins and amino acids are retained in the product.

Cooking risotto with vegetables

For this you will need 400g of rice, 1l of broth, 50g of green peas, 50g of zucchini, 1 carrot, 2 sweet peppers, 1 onion, 2 tomatoes, a clove of garlic, vegetable oil for frying, 80g of grated cheese, 1 tbsp. butter, black pepper, salt, parsley.

First you need to lightly brown the chopped garlic and onion, then add the rice and fry everything, add the broth and cook for about 7 minutes. Next, add the diced vegetables: bell peppers, zucchini, carrots and cook for about another 10 minutes, gradually adding broth. Add peas, tomatoes, salt, pepper and simmer until done. Season the finished risotto with butter, stir, place in a heap on a plate, and sprinkle with cheese and herbs on top. Delicious risotto with vegetables is ready!

French chic salad

French chic is a salad that many people have heard of. Despite its exquisite and delicate taste, it is very easy to prepare. For 6 servings you will need: 2 cooking bags of short grain rice, 200 gr. hot smoked fish fillet, mackerel is perfect; 8 quail eggs, 2 fresh cucumbers with thin peel, 6 cherry tomatoes, 5 lettuce leaves for decoration, 50 gr. green onions, 100g. low-fat yogurt, 2 tbsp. spoons of French mustard.

First you need to boil the bags of rice in salted water. Clean the fish and cut into small cubes. Next, boil the eggs, peel and cut in half. Cut the cucumbers into slices, chop the green onions. Combine all chopped ingredients with rice. To prepare the sauce, mix yogurt and French mustard. Season the salad with sauce. Spread green lettuce leaves on a flat plate, lay out the salad, sprinkle onions on top and garnish with tomato halves. None of the guests can resist French chic. Bon appetit!

There are such warm sunny days when we get together with friends, go to the river together, have fun and just have a good time. In such weather, you want kebabs, personally cooked on the grill, or delicious pilaf, which, thanks to their extraordinary aroma, gathers everyone present around them, making you listen to the rumbling in your stomach and feel wild hunger while this delicacy is laid out on plates. If only all days were like this... But it also happens that it is dirty, cold and damp outside, but you still want good company and a delicious unusual dish. If there is the same picture outside your window, then feel free to gather friends at home and prepare a fragrant, tasty, sunny Italian dish - risotto.

What is risotto? Contrary to popular belief, this is not pilaf or its variety, and risotto cannot be called porridge. This is a completely independent dish, or rather not even a dish, but a way of preparing rice. Once you master the classic risotto recipe, you can use your imagination, previous experience and advice from experienced chefs to create your own unique recipe. This is how the variety of risotto that can be seen today arose. This includes mushroom risotto, and sweet, and traditional meat, and vegetarian, and with the addition of seafood. Risotto can also vary in consistency; if you cook according to the classic recipe, it should turn out creamy, but there are recipe options with a more liquid or, conversely, crumbly consistency.

Why is it better to cook risotto in pleasant company? You can cook alone, but you won’t be able to eat it alone. Risotto loves a group of 4-6 hungry people. The cooking process itself takes no more than 20-25 minutes, but requires a lot of attention and patience. But you will have to spend a lot of time and effort on preparation. There will be something to keep your friends busy, and everyone will have time to get hungry. What do you need to prepare to make a delicious risotto? As always, we start with the dishes. A good risotto will not turn out without a wooden spoon, which is needed for constantly stirring the rice, a ladle with which you will add broth, a large saucepan, preferably 8 liters, a large cast-iron frying pan with a comfortable handle in which the risotto will be cooked, and also a very fine cheese grater.

Utensils, of course, play an important role, but without quality products, all efforts to find suitable utensils will be in vain. Wilted carrots and greens, onions that have become a little soft, semi-hard cheese, long-grain rice and sugary Cahors are not suitable for risotto. All ingredients must be fresh and tasty, so that you will definitely like them, all together and each individually. Exactly what ingredients to stock up on depends on what kind of risotto you are planning to cook. We suggest making risotto with porcini mushrooms. This recipe cannot be called classic, but with this example you can understand the basic principle of preparing this Italian dish.

Risotto does not start with rice at all, but with properly cooked broth. The broth can be vegetable, meat or fish; sometimes purified drinking water can be used instead of broth. For mushroom risotto, no matter how strange it may sound, chicken broth is suitable. Chicken broth is not the liquid that remains after boiling the chicken; it is prepared as a separate dish, with the addition of vegetables, spices and herbs. To prepare a good chicken broth, you will need 5 liters of purified drinking water, 1 nice chicken, 2 beautiful carrots, 2 juicy white onions, a teaspoon of peppercorns, a little coarse sea salt, a glass of dry white wine and a group of activists who will help cut it all, grind, chop and cook. In fact, much more wine may be needed, since activists will not help just like that.

So, get out your big pot and start creating. Rinse the chicken thoroughly in running water, separate the legs and wings from it, and cut the remaining body into 4 parts. Place the chicken in a pan, add a little sea salt and add 5 liters of water. You need to add very little salt, no more than a pinch, since the broth should remain practically unsalted. While you are doing all these manipulations with chicken and salt, ask your friends to lightly crush the peppercorns with a knife and chop the onions and carrots. In this case, you need to ensure that the carrots are cut into large pieces, and the onions into very small pieces, each piece should be the size of a grain of rice.

Once the chicken is in the pan and the carrots and onions are chopped, place a dry cast-iron frying pan on the heat, add the carrots and onions, and cook until the onions become translucent. Place the pan on the fire, wait until it boils, reduce the heat to low and send the most patient person to skim off the foam that forms. When there is no foam left, it’s time to add vegetables and peppers and cover the pan with a lid for an hour and a half. At this time, you can prepare other ingredients or drink some wine and indulge in memories of bright sunny days. After an hour and a half, pour a glass of dry white wine into the broth. And after another 25 minutes, make a bouquet of your favorite greens, adding a bay leaf and lower it into the pan for a few minutes. Strain the finished broth and pour into a clean saucepan. Finally the broth is ready!

We've sorted out the most important thing, now you can start preparing the risotto itself. For this you will need 400 grams of Arborio rice; you can try to find other rice for risotto, for example, Carnaroli or Vialone nano, but Arborio is found on the shelves of our stores much more often. Also prepare 250 grams of fresh porcini mushrooms, 1 small head of white onion, 1 small clove of garlic, a bunch of parsley, 100 grams of your favorite butter, 1 more glass of dry white wine, 2 liters of previously cooked chicken broth, 50 grams of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, salt , freshly ground black pepper and a few saffron stigmas.

It is worth briefly explaining why this particular rice, this particular cheese and only dry wine are used to prepare risotto. Rice suitable for risotto contains two types of starch, one located on the surface of each grain of rice, which gives it a creamy texture, and another located inside, which prevents the rice from overcooking and turning the risotto into mush. It is to preserve the starch on the surface of the grains that rice for risotto should never be washed. Just like three types of rice, only three types of cheese can be called ideal for risotto. These are Parmigiano Reggiano or Parmesan, Grana Padano and Trentingrana. All these cheeses have a grainy structure in common, and they are the ones used in the classic risotto recipe. The choice of wine is much simpler. In fact, there are only two requirements for it: it must be dry and of high quality. If these two requirements are met, then which wine you decide to use does not matter.

If you continue in this vein and talk about each ingredient, the company you have gathered will be hungry to eat the chicken used to cook the broth, so involve them in preparing the products. Measure out 400 grams of rice, peel, wash thoroughly and chop the mushrooms, chop the parsley very finely, put the broth on low heat, grate the cheese and finely chop the onion, put a pinch of saffron in a glass and pour over the hot broth. Only now can you start preparing the risotto itself.

Take out your large cast iron frying pan, place it on the fire and heat about 30 grams of butter. Add finely chopped onion to the oil and fry it until it becomes transparent. At this stage, you cannot be distracted, because if the onion burns, you will have to throw it away and start frying a new portion. Now it's the turn of rice. Pour it into the pan in a quick circular motion. From now on, constantly stir the future risotto. Fry the rice until it becomes almost transparent and make sure that it is evenly soaked in oil. Now pour in the wine, mix it with the rice and cook, stirring constantly until the rice has absorbed all the wine.

Immediately after the wine has been absorbed, you can start adding broth. By this point it should be boiling. Use a ladle to scoop up the broth and pour it into the pan, stirring the rice until it has absorbed all the broth. Then add the broth again and stir again. While you're making the broth, so that your invited friends don't get bored, ask them to cook the mushrooms. To do this, heat 30 grams of butter in a separate frying pan, add a clove of garlic and chopped mushrooms to it and fry them over high heat for 3-4 minutes. You need to make sure that the mushrooms do not burn, so constant stirring is required here. Ready mushrooms need to be lightly salted and peppered, remove the garlic and add finely chopped parsley.

When the pot of broth is half-full, add the mushrooms to the risotto and pour in the broth with saffron, stir and continue adding broth in small portions. When the rice is ready, remove the pan from the heat. Cut the remaining butter into small cubes, add it to the risotto along with the finely grated cheese and mix thoroughly until the mixture becomes homogeneous.

Now you can put the risotto on plates and eat it immediately. Although after such a long preparation for this event there must have been a serious appetite, the risotto would probably disappear from the plates before it even appeared there. Perhaps such a long cooking process was not invented by chance and is intended to contribute to the appearance of hungry rumbling in the stomach, so that later there will be no trace left of the cooked risotto, because eating it cannot be put off until later. Bon appetit and sunny mood!

Alena Karamzina