Risotto at first glance may seem like ordinary rice porridge with toppings to taste. Of course, such an assessment is erroneous, and all consumers are convinced of this. The silky, indescribably creamy texture leaves no one indifferent.
Yes, the skilled hands of the cook are extremely important in its preparation, but the quality of the products should not be forgotten. How to choose rice for risotto and what varieties are suitable, we will tell in this article, along the way, giving several recipes.
Not so simple
It would seem that the difficult thing is to cook rice? However, in practice it turns out that this dish is one of the most difficult. Having mastered the ability to cook risotto, the cook will simultaneously learn many subtleties that affect his general ability to cook and increase the level of professionalism. This is not rice porridge for breakfast, but a whole philosophy. Everything is important: which rice for risotto you choose, which vegetables to add, which dishes to put in, with what mood you will approach the process. The main thing is not only strict adherence to the recipe, add intuition and confidence in the correctness of your actions.
Speaking about rice, it must necessarily contain a large amount of starch (amylopectin, when in contact with hot liquid forms a transparent "paste"), which will provide the final dish with a delicate creamy texture.
Arborio Rice
The most popular and familiar variety for Russians. The birthplace of rice is Piedmont. The grains are large, loose, contain a large amount of amylopectin.
Cooking this rice for risotto is very simple - a creamy texture always forms. But the dish should be eaten immediately after cooking, since the cooled "arborio" is a grossly sticky mass that cannot be reheated. Therefore, Italians themselves use this variety for the preparation of basic types of risotto, which do not require complex side dishes. Milanese risotto, mushrooms, spices - this "arborio" is enough for triumph. So if you are in doubt which rice to choose for a risotto and you don’t have experience, it is best to take it.
Rice "Carnaroli"
A popular rice variety in Italy.
It is slightly smaller than the Arborio and more elongated. The starch in it is also less, because of which the finished dish, even cooling, does not turn into an unattractive porridge. Carnaroli is the perfect rice for a risotto with a sophisticated side dish.
Rice "vialone nano"
It is rather difficult to find this variety in Russia, as there are no official importers capable of providing them with the retail market. Therefore, you should rely only on gifts from Italy or online purchases.
This is the best rice for risotto: it is the most tender, the most correct. Most loved at home, gives a very delicate creamy texture. The best chefs around the world prefer it for its taste and aroma. Dishes are infinitely soft and tender. “Vialone Nano”, unlike “Arborio”, will perfectly perform recipes of any complexity.
Classic Risotto Recipe
Now let's move on to the recipes. Indeed, why find out which rice is needed for a risotto and not use knowledge in practice? Let's start cooking risotto bianco (base without additional flavoring accents):
- rice - 150 grams;
- butter - 25 grams;
- onions - 20 grams;
- crushed parmesan - 20 grams;
- vegetable broth - 500 ml;
- dry white wine - 50 ml;
- olive oil - 10 grams;
- pepper and salt to taste.
Cooking
What rice is better for risotto, we found out, now we will tell how to cook it. By the way, all products are given in 2 servings, if you wish, you can increase them.
As for the dishes, the old cast-iron pan will be ideal here.
Pour olive oil into a cold pan and add finely chopped onions.
Put it all on medium heat and fry the contents until transparent.
Pour rice to the onion and fry it until the ends of the grains become transparent at the ends. It is at this moment that they absorb the tastes and aroma of oil with onions.
Pour alcohol into the rice for the risotto (for example, optionally white wine, it may be red), let it evaporate almost completely.
Add 100 ml of vegetable broth each time by evaporating it. Constantly interfere.
By the last portion of the broth, your rice will be in the "al dente" state , i.e. have a delicate texture, but a little solid middle. The whole process will take about 17 minutes.
After the expiration of the grain will swell, starch will be released - here you need to remove the pan from the heat and let it stand for a minute, so that the rice rests.
Grate parmesan and butter in rice, gently stirring. You will get a marvelous consistency of rice cream that keeps its shape. Serve immediately.
For those who have not finished. Arancini balls inside out
Yes, and the Italians sometimes left a little risotto. Food should not disappear, decided brave gourmets came up with a new dish - arancini. It comes from Sicily and represents balls of risotto stuffed with meat or cheese and fried in large quantities of oil. We offer you a wonderful dish that differs from arancini in that the risotto itself serves as the filling. The rest of the technology is saved:
- ready risotto bianco - 200 grams;
- peeled shrimp - 250 grams;
- starch (preferably corn) - 25 grams;
- salt with pepper to taste;
- vegetable oil - 300 ml.
Do
If, as luck would have it, you don’t have any risotto leftovers, we strongly recommend preparing a new portion (rice for risotto how to choose, we told you). Yes, troublesome, but worth it.
Grind the shrimp in a uniform viscous paste, salt and pepper to taste.
From a cold risotto with wet hands, form balls the size of a walnut.
From the shrimp paste, make a 0.5 cm thick cake and wrap a ball of risotto in it, leaving no gaps.
Pour the starch on a saucer and roll the balls in it, slightly dusting the shrimp surface. Do not overdo it, you do not need a strong shell of starch.
Heat vegetable oil in a skillet or deep frying pan.
Fry the balls over medium heat, turning them periodically, to a golden crust. It will take about 6-7 minutes.
Put the arancini inside out on a paper napkin to stack excess fat and serve immediately!
Risotto with strawberries for dessert
We offer you a very, very non-standard version of the dessert, which will honor even the festive table with its taste:
- nonfat milk - 750 ml;
- cinnamon - 1 stick;
- fresh and frozen strawberries - 30 grams;
- dried strawberries - 50 grams;
- rice for risotto - 1 gram;
- sugar - 250 grams;
- butter - 30 grams.
How to cook
All products are given in 2 servings. If desired, proportionally increase all the components.
Wash strawberries, dry and remove all branches.
Grind the berries, rub through a sieve to get rid of the seeds, mix with sugar and put on a small fire. Bring to a boil and cook for a quarter hour, periodically removing the foam.
Cut the dried strawberries in half.
Warm milk without boiling, add cinnamon. Keep warm.
In a pan with a thick bottom, melt the butter, pour the rice and fry over medium heat for 2 minutes.
Pour milk into rice so that it only covers, intensively stirring. Add the next portion of milk when the previous one is absorbed into rice.
After 10 minutes from the start of rice cooking, add strawberry syrup and dried berries.
Continue pouring milk until rice is ready.
The dish is served both hot and cold, decorated with berries.
Taste variations
Above we gave the basic recipe for white risotto bianca. Having mastered it, you can vary the taste of the dish as you wish, adding certain products. Recall the step in which the rice is fried in oil with onions before adding the broth. It is at this moment that it is most “open” to all kinds of tastes and aromas, so treat yourself to the following combinations:
- chop the bacon (100 grams), sun-dried tomatoes (100 grams) and basil (5-6 leaves), add to the rice;
- thaw a sea cocktail (250 grams), rinse and dry, grate the zest with one lemon, add to rice;
- chop chicken fillet (200 grams) with fresh mint (5-6 leaves), add to rice;
- pour frozen green peas (200 grams) over boiling water and discard on a sieve, chop fresh mint (6-7 leaves), add to rice;
- chop mushrooms (300 grams), saffron (1 string) soak in 1 tbsp. spoon of broth, add to rice.
Import substitution. Rice varieties for risotto from Russia
What to do if you really want a risotto, but you can only dream of a “carnarole”, “vialone nano” and even “arborio”? On bezrybe and Krasnodar - Italy. In other words, you need to find rice with a lot of starch. Krasnodar variety is suitable for this description. Of course, the effect will not be the same, but still you can try.