Issue Date: March 19, 2006
Perfect risotto
No more upper-body workout: You don't have to keep stirring this classic Italian rice dish.
I think many of us would make risotto more often but for the fuss: Who wants to be chained to a pot of simmering rice for a half hour right before dinner?
To make this luxuriously creamy Italian dish more cook-friendly, I set out to eliminate some of the stirring. The only no-stir method I knew that worked used a pressure cooker. Then I remembered my modified pressure-cooker method for stews: By using heavy-duty foil and a pot with a tight-fitting lid, I found I could mimic a pressure cooker in my regular oven.
I started the way you normally would make risotto, by sautéing an onion and prosciutto or ham (for extra flavor) in butter or oil. Next, I stirred in the rice, then wine. But rather than adding the hot chicken broth a cupful at a time and stirring constantly, I dumped in the broth and water, then covered the whole thing with foil, pressing down until the foil touched the liquid. I reinforced the seal with the pot lid and set the pot in a 450-degree oven.
The pot emerged 25 minutes later with creamy liquid and almost-cooked rice. After five more minutes of stovetop stirring, the risotto was as it should be -- slightly chewy at the center and swimming in creamy broth. Because every oven and pot is different, you may need to stir a minute or two longer, or add a little extra water or broth to make the rice creamy.
The easy-bake risotto formula below gives you two places to add extra ingredients. You should sauté foods that need more cooking -- mushrooms, winter squash -- along with the onion. Then add delicate ingredients during the last five minutes of stirring (the rice's heat will cook raw seafood).
Now, enjoy the fact that you are exactly where you should be -- with your friends and not in the kitchen stirring rice.
Find all of CookSmart's past hits at allrecipes.com.
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Easy-Bake Risotto
3 Tbs. olive oil or butter
1 small onion, cut into small dice
2 ounces prosciutto or 4 ounces ham, cut into small dice
Optional: 1 pound (16 ounces), total, of flavoring ingredients (see Sautéed Ingredients and Last-Minute Ingredients, at far right)
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese; extrafor serving
4 ounces (1 cup) frozen regular (not petite) green peas and/or 2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
Salt and ground black pepper
Adjust oven rack to middle position, and heat oven to 450 degrees.
Prepare optional ingredients, if using.
Heat oil or butter in a heavy-bottom Dutch oven or large ovenproof saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and prosciutto or ham (and if you've chosen any Sautéed Ingredients, add them now); sauté until tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
Stir in rice (can be removed from heat and covered for up to 2 hours in advance), then add wine, and simmer until theliquid has almost evaporated. Turn off heat. Add broth and water. Cover the pot with a sheet of heavy-duty foil, pressing the foil down so it's concave and rests on the broth. Place a lid over the pot to ensure an even tighter seal.
Set pot in oven; cook for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Use a potholder to remove lid and foil. Remembering that the handles are hot, set pot on low heat. (If you've chosen any Last-Minute Ingredients, add them now.)
Stir mixture, adding water if necessary, until rice is cooked and a little chewy at the center, the liquid is creamy, and the flavors of the new ingredients have melded in, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, peas and/or parsley. Adjust seasonings, including salt and pepper, to taste.
Spoon into shallow soup plates,sprinkling each serving with shaved Parmesan.
Serves 4 to 6 as a main course;
Serves 8 as a first course.
Tale of the grain
Reach for arborio rice when you want to make a real risotto. Long-grain white rice just doesn't have the same starchy qualities as arborio's short, fat, pearly kernels. Many brands are imported from Italy, but I like RiceSelect's risotto rice, grown here.
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Risotto options
Sautéed Ingredients: Choose 8 ounces (a heaping 2 cups) of one of the following.
Butternut or other winter squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
Cabbage, thinly sliced
Mushrooms, thinly sliced
Fennel, halved lengthwise, cored and thinly sliced
Last-Minute Ingredients: Choose 8 ounces of one of the following. Add during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Raw bay scallops
Fresh baby spinachor arugula
Roasted asparagus*
Raw medium shrimp, peeled
*Cut asparagus in 1-inch lengths, toss with 1 Tb. olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a single layer on a baking sheet in a 450-degree oven for 5 minutes. Set aside until adding to risotto.
Pam Anderson is the author of four cookbooks, including her latest, "Perfect Recipes for Having People Over" (Houghton Mifflin, $35).
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